Inheritance
by aisha12894
Summary: Haru desperately attempts to navigate her new lifestyle through these treacherous struggles based on her "inheritance". Read and Review!
1. Prologue

The sound of a gong being hit reveberates throughout the hollow stone corridors, which signals to the residents that it was time to rise and shine.

"Hey…Haru you should wake up," A voice suggests as they gently shake a brunette girl in the fetal position.

An "ugh" emits from the little girl before the voice claims, "You know _they_ won't like it if we are late to line up."

A mere few seconds passed by when the wooden door flew open to reveal a silver haired male, who toted an illegally acquired military grade weapon.

"Why aren't you bastards lined up?!" He angrily barks out once he notices that the children fail to properly greet him in an orderly fashion.

"Rattle", "Rattle", "Rattle" The children, except for one, quickly scramble to form a line and recite, "Good morning, Mister Yui."

The man name, Mister Yui, silently counted out the designated number that was assigned to the room. However, he came up short by just one child.

"What's the deal with all this loud noise?" A voice from behind the children grumbles, which cause their attention to turn toward that child.

Yui narrows his sights in on the brunette girl, who sleepily rubs her eyes as she stands next to the child on the far left side.

"I should have known that it was you...my rebellious spring child." He claims while he draws closer to the little girl.

Haru stifles a yawn with one of her hands, which causes the chains that dangle from her wrist cuffs to jingle.

"I cannot allow any more of your transgressions to occur, spring." Yui firmly states with a "tsk" of his tongue and a shake of his head.

She directs her chocolate brown orbs at the man's face once he reaches his hand down and latches it around the metallic collar.

"Come child." He states as he proceeds to forcefully drag the brunette against the cobblestone floor, which was sure to leave bruises and scratches on her body.

Yui briefly pauses for a minute prior to his departure from the room only to mutter to himself, "I think I'm forgetting something."

He snaps his fingers once the thought surfaces to his mind, digs inside of pocket, and tosses a loaf of bread at the children.

The group was wildly scrambling to secure the loaf of bread senselessly attacking each other for what was their normal serving size for breakfast.

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"Let Haru go!" Haru yelled as she she kicked and screamed while being dragged across cobblestone by the older man.

The guards simply watch as their superior discipline one of the many children that was place under his watch.

"It looks like the rowdy brunette again." One of the guards whispers under their breath once one of them registers the identity of the child.

"How many times does that make this week?" The other one asks with an expression of irritation displays on her face.

Yui comes to a stop once he reaches their destination. He produces a set of keys that unlock the lock on the door, pushes it forward, and enters inside of the room.

The silver haired male then gently tosses the little girl further inside of the dark dampen room as the little girl lets out an "oof" upon collision with the ground.

"Why do you constantly throw my kindness back in my face?!" He angrily grips at the little girl, who recovers from the rough housing.

"Answer me spring!" Yui orders as his voice rises to assert his dominance over the child as she props herself upright.

Haru's face contorts to display defiance as she remains silent rather than supply an answer to the male that hovers over her.

' _Why is this child so driven to challenge my authority?'_ He thinks as his anger starts to build and flexes his hand from a fist to a palm.

A stinging sensation from the side of her face was still not enough for the stubborn brunette to respond to the question.

"You will learn to obey or suffer the consequences, spring." He adamantly claims as he exits from the room and locks the little girl inside.

Haru brings her knees close to her chest, starts to rock back and forward, and mutters, "I will never obey you. I will gain my freedom from this hell!"

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"I swear that child works my last nerve." The man grunted aloud as he continued to flex the very hand that just struck a little girl.

"Sir how long do you plan on keeping that tyrant in our possession?" A man with knee length blonde hair inquires upon the arrival of Yui.

Yui immediately cuts his eyes at the man and gravely inquires, "By tyrant? Do you mean my precious spring, _Katsumi_?"

"I do believe the child's name is…" He pauses to check the clipboard in his hand, searches for the name and discloses, "Miura, Haru".

The silver haired male releases a deep sigh of frustration before he admits, "That child does have an uncanny knack to ruffle my feathers."

"So why don't you get rid of her as you do the other troublemakers?" The blonde questions his superior about his motives for the little girl.

"You really do like to hassle me for simplistic measures that I take for this kind of business that we are in." Yui irritably mentions with a slight roll of his eyes.

Katsumi pushes his glasses back on to the bridge of his nose before he declares, "I am more than aware of what business we are in."

"I was hired by your father to make sure _you_ make the right choice so that you can succeed his position as Boss of this Famiglia." He says to the silver haired male that stands to his left.

Yui releases yet another sigh of frustration before he recalls, "You don't have to remind me as to who and why you were hired."

"I was there when he made the selection to choose you as a potential Underboss once I inherit my future position." He reminds his associate with a "humph" of his presence.

"Yet, I do believe that spring will bloom to be a very beautiful young woman." He sincerely disclosed the reason why has not eliminated the young brunette child.

Katsumi quirks an eyebrow at the silver haired male once he processes the reason behind his choice to keep this specific young girl under his watch.

"As you know I am quite the patient man…" Yui firmly admits with an expression of determination present on his face.

' _This will be interesting to watch play out.'_ The blonde concludes about the potential development of the brunette girl.

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"Drip" "Drip" "Drip" the sound of water trickles from the roof and onto the floor as it seems to soothe the little girl's anger.

The brunette haired girl slowly stretches out the entire length of her body against the cold floor as the temperature seems to ease the stinging sensation from her bruises.

' _This room is darker than the one Haru's usually thrown in.'_ She notes about the change of the detention room.

A draft of wind catches her attention, which could mean that this room was either near an open window or there was no heat in the area.

' _How did Haru end up here?'_ She wonders while she stares straight ahead at what she assumes is one of the four walls.

An image of her twin size bed decorated with various odd plush animals and a multicolored polka dot comforter materialized in front of her.

A slightly older man, who she identifies as her father, appears concern about something since he paces in front of her.

It was a constant habit that she would later learn that should cause her to worry about her father and his health.

"Haru…" his voice sounds shaky as if he was nervous about something that was out of his control. "Papa needs for you to be a big girl now."

"Can you do that for me?" He inquires with his hands on both sides of her shoulders while he stares deeply in her eyes.

The confused brunette nodded her head when the sound of knocks instantly caught her father's attention.

She watches as her father swiftly disappears behind her bedroom door before the sound of footsteps can be heard.

"Is the child in her room?" A mysterious voice requests as a "Yes, she is in the room" prompts her to panic as the footsteps draw closer and closer.

Haru ducks underneath her bed at the sound of her doorknob rattles, which causes her to clasp her hands over her ears.

The sight of multiple feet enters in her line of vision when a voice chides, "Where are you, _spring_?"

She then shifts one of her hands from over her ears to her mouth so she would not utter a sound that would give her position away.

Haru watches the skirt that covers the bed shifts to the left and reveals a rather young man with silver hair.

"Ah, there you are…" His voice sounds calm as he coaxes the little girl out from underneath the bed with a warm smile.

"Now why would a pretty girl such as yourself hide your beauty from the world?" The man wonders after he squats to her level.

A small blush surfaces to the brunette's face while she conceals her eyes with her bangs only to have them sweep aside.

Haru then feels a soft hand underneath her chin, which forces her to stare the man in his face as he speaks, "That's much better."

The sight of her father sends a sense of relief to wash over her body after she dashes from in front of the man.

She defiantly stands behind her father's legs as she uses them as a shield to guard her from the silver haired male.

"You really do have a beautiful little girl, Miura-san." The male asserts once he releases a sigh, stands to his length and sets his sights on the brunette toddler.

"Thank you, Yui." Her father thanks the man while one of his hands settle against the crown of his daughter's head.

The man, name Yui, extends one of his hands outwards, which prompts the little girl to stare up at her father.

A warm smile stretches across his face as he steps aside and gently pushes Haru in the direction of the silver haired male.

She slightly hesitates while she draws closer to the strange man. The brunette child slowly lifts her arms so that her hands can meet his.

"I will make sure to real good care of her…" Yui firmly asserts once he secures the toddler's hand within his grasps.

He then proceeds to guide the brunette toddler down the set of steps, out of the household and to a black car.

Yui secures the little girl, Haru, in the seatbelt, faces her father and mentions, "Also Miura-san, do remember that your daughter has now _inherited_ your debt to my family."

"I am well aware of…" He somberly admits, which earns a head nod from the young man as he disappears inside of the car.


	2. Chapter 2

_13 Years later…_

The sound of a gong loudly echoes throughout the hollow stone corridors, which signals to the residents that it was time to rise and shine.

An "ugh" emitted from a young woman as her body instinctively rolled out of the bed that felt like a stone slab against her back. She then stretches out the entire length of her body until she hears a small "pop" noise from her stiff joints.

"Ah! That felt good." The woman drowsily mumbles while her chains continuously clinks against each other due to her sudden movements.

A loud knock at the door instantly caught her ears as well as her attention. Her body went completely rigid due to the years of harsh discipline she received for being late to line up.

The door swings open to reveal an older man in his late twenties with shoulder length curly silver haired and light blue eyes. His body frame was one of an individual that works out on a consistent basis. His strongest feature is his chisel chin.

The older man was clothed in rather expensive garbs that displayed not only his wealth but his status in the world.

This only made her a bit more self-conscious about the raggedy tarps that adorned her body. Yet, she made the best of it with her latent sewing ability.

"Ah Good morning, spring." The man politely greets her with a small smile on his face while he stands in front of the door.

"Good morning, Mister Yui." She recites as she bows at the waist until she hears his voice orders her, "Follow me."

The woman never understood why the silver haired male tacked the moniker " _spring_ " instead of her actual name Haru Miura. Even though, the literal meaning indeed is "spring" it was still strange.

She ambles forward before she patiently waits for Yui to lead her in the direction of where she needs to go.

"You're awfully quiet today, spring. What's wrong?" He inquires before he proceeds to lead the brunette woman to her assign location.

Haru ignores the question, keeps her head down, and loses herself in her own thoughts, _'I won't have much longer till I am able to be free of this place.'_

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' _Am I late?'_ A male with silver haired and emerald green eyes wondered as he bolted passed a sign that was inscribed "Vongola Family".

' _I hope I'm the first person here.'_ He hopefully wishes after he dashes pass a couple of familiar faces until he reaches his destination.

"Tenth," The man dutifully calls out to the orange haired male that stands with two older men, who he in turn acknowledges as the "Ninth" and "Iemitsu-san".

"I was starting to wonder when the _infamous_ right hand would show up." Iemitsu chuckles at the sudden sight of the silver haired male.

"I, Gokudera Hayato, will be continuously at the heart of the attack, the furious Storm that never rests." The young man, name Hayato, proudly recites his portion for the Inheritance Ceremony.

Timeto dryly chuckles at the young man, who unintentionally displays his excitement for the ceremony to begin.

"We haven't reached that part yet, Gokudera-san." He informs the Storm guardian, who blushes out of embarrassment for his slip up.

"Oh uhm, my apologies. I thought I was running late." Hayato immediately apologized for his mistake after he stood upright from his bow position.

"Ano…Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna's meek voice speaks up before he instantly directs his focus on to the orange haired male.

"You're actually on time. Everyone else is either getting dressed or already ready as we speak." He informs the silver haired male while he scratches the side of his cheek with an index finger.

Hayato releases a sigh of relief at the information before he receives further information as to where he needs to report.

' _Whew…I can't believe that I slipped up like that! It wasn't_ _just in front of Judaime but in front of the Ninth and Iemitsu as well.'_ He harshly ridicules himself for his lackluster performance while he heads to the dressing room.

"Gokudera-kun," A tall lanky brunette haired male with light brown eyes cheerfully greets the silver haired male upon his arrival.

"Octopus head," An older stocky silver haired male with grey eyes jokingly revels once he notices the Storm guardian enters in the room.

"Bakadora," A teen age raven haired male with two golden horns in his grasp and green eyes playfully mocks the older man.

"Gokudera-san," A pale woman with purple hair in a ponytail that resembles a pineapple with a purple iris and a black skull eye patch that covers the right eye meekly acknowledges him.

"Herbivore," A lean raven haired male with dark eyes irritably grunts since he was visibly uncomfortable with the number of people in the room.

After he exchanges personal greeting to each respective individual in the room, he then inquires about, "Where's Fuuta and I-Pin?"

"Fuuta's already dressed and I-Pin had a last minute delivery." The tall lanky brunette provides an answer to the question once he adjusts his tie.

Hayato nods his head to show that he understands before he points to a black suitbag that had his name on the white label.

"Maybe you aren't useless after all, baseball freak." He honestly admits with a shrug of his shoulders to the taller male.

The silver haired male stares at the bag while his hands seem to maneuver on its own as he loses himself in his thoughts, _'Tonight is the night.'_

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"Ugh," Haru grumbles to herself as she irritably stares out of a window at the city landscape.

"I'm starting to think that "ugh" is your catchphrase Haru-chan." A girl with orange hair and forest green eyes, who is two years her junior, teases her after she approaches the brunette woman.

"Trust me Suzuka, when I say that _ugh_ is Haru-chan trademark." A girl, with maroon hair, chimes after she overhears the pair's conversation.

"Uh oh…looks like we got some company." The girl name, Suzuka, states once she notices an older woman purposely draw closer to them.

"Disperse." Haru swiftly orders right before the woman could evenreach the trio as they instantly separate from each other.

"If you three don't get back here now!" The older woman orders in a stern tone, except for the fact that they refuse to even obey the woman's order.

The brunette chuckles at the woman's frustration completely unaware of the silver haired male presence until he speaks up, "I'm starting to think you like to cause me problems, spring."

Haru slightly jumps from the sudden appearance of the man as it immediately causes her nerves to stand on end.

"I wanted to see you before the ceremony official started." Yui admits to the girl with a frank smile on his face.

She watches him close the distance between them while he reaches out one of his hands toward her. His abrupt action causes the brunette to flinch from his touch.

Haru hears the older man in front of him deeply sighs and mutters, "It saddens me that you run from my touch, spring."

Yui then casually withdrew his hand from in front of her face and returned it to his side.

"I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful tonight." He honestly reveals before he leaves the brunette alone until she spots the older lady.

' _I can't wait for this to be over so I can get some sleep.'_ She concludes after she situates the tray in the proper position and enters inside of the ballroom.

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A few hours later...

' _Why is Yui on the stage?'_ Haru wonders once she notices the silver haired male with a microphone in his hand.

"We, the Ricotta Family, offer our hospitality for this momentous occasion as the Vongola's family bestow the title of Boss on Tsunayoshi Sawada." Yui cordially greets the guests that were present in the foyer of the building.

"So please indulge in cocktail hour until it is time for the Inheritance Ceremony to officially begin." He urges after he secures a glass flute of champagne from one of the trays.

The brunette decides to lose herself in her work as she seems to weave in and out of the crowd with grace. From years of practice, she knew the signs of those who were ready to engage in cocktail hour and did not fail to create a naturally cheerful disposition.

Haru softly hums to herself to pass the time when she abruptly senses a sudden change in the aura of the environment.

' _What's this strange feeling?'_ She quietly wonders as she continues to watch the shift of concentration from the other guests to one direction.

Haru then noticed that all of the partygoers' eyes were now currently directed on the group that entered inside of the foyer.

All of a sudden, the crowd seems to cave in on her as people began to push their way forward in order to catch a glimpse of the cluster.

"Look it's the Vongola family!" "Ah there boss is so kawaii!" "I hear's just 21 years old!" "That would make him the youngest to ever assume the Boss position."

Haru desperately attempted to push against the crowd only to be swallowed up once again. Somehow she made her way toward the middle of the people.

"Sheesh, can't you people at least show a little decency!" She angrily snaps at the assembly of people unaware of her current position.

"Hey…" A masculine voice speaks up, which prompts the brunette to rotate her head to the source of the noise.

A male, with ear length silver hair and emerald green, was the source as he continues to speak, "A woman that complains about decorum yet doesn't show it herself is... _stupid_."

Before she could even retort, a tall brunette man taps the silver haired male's shoulder and suggests, "Now, now, Gokudera-kun…don't be rude to the lovely lady."

' _So his name is Gokudera huh?'_ Haru catches on since she wants to smack the silver tray in her possession across his face.

A 'pft' escapes the man name Gokudera's lips until a meek voice in front of him instructs, "She was caught up in the crowd. Apologize Gokudera-kun."

Her sights now land on a rather short orange haired male clad in a simple suit, who issues out an order to the silver haired male.

' _As if this guy would listen to you…'_ She mentally assumes that the silver haired male was of a higher rank than the one in front of him.

Haru watches in disbelif as the male mumbles something underneath his breath before he quickly extends her a "Sorry".

"I apologize about his behavior, ma'am. He doesn't know how to express himself around women." The tall man offers an apology for who she assumes is his friend or at the very least comrade.

She merely nods her head and bows out of the way only to catch another brief glimpse of the cluster that enters inside of the ballroom.

Suzuka quickly sprints over to the brunette haired woman and immediately inquires about if she was alright.

"Haru's fine Suzuka." She confirms to the orange haired girl, who breathes a sigh of relief after the good news.

Haru merely dusts herself off, checks out her surroundings, and suggests to the young girl, "You should really get back to the cocktail hour."

"Why?" Suzuka curiously poses before her answer came in the form of a whisper, which sends the girl on auto-pilot.

"Get back to work, you two!" The older woman snaps at the two girls, who merely ignore the woman and continue on with their assign duties.


	3. Chapter 3

A random hostess dutifully directs the Vongola family to their assign space, which happens to be the longest table in the room. It was conveniently placed in the center of the ballroom.

"Well this is awfully nice of the Ricotta family to host your Inheritance Ceremony, neh Tsuna-san?" The brunette, with light brown eyes, addresses the orange haired male after he settles in to his seat.

"I'm not surprised since this family is known for their high class _hospitality_ services." The silver haired male discloses as his face continues to display his irritation from the incident earlier.

His comment prompts the other silver haired male at the table to suggest, "You really should fix your face octopus head. This is a very important family function to honor Tsuna."

' _Sasagawa, Ryohei,'_ Hayato silently identifies the older man clad in a black suit with an dark orange dress shirt. White adhesive bandages were tightly wrapped around his fists to hide the bruises that he had acquired from being a boxer over the years.

"He's _Bakadora_ after all…" A teenage boy with a green dress shirt with a black tie jokingly revels after he casually places his elbow on the table and cups his chin with his hand.

"Your voice is _annoying_ , Lambo. Shut it before I rip your vocal cords out stupid cow." Hayato harshly threatens in a serious tone, which causes the brunette to jump in for the teen's defense.

He merely rolls his eyes at the typical reaction to shield Lambo from his ire when he poses, "How long are you going to defend the kid, Takeshi? Did you forget that he's a hitman?"

"This is why I don't like crowds." A male, next to the indigo haired woman, grumbled aloud with his eyes closed and arms folded in front of his chest.

' _Kyoya, Hibari and Dokuro, Chrome,'_ Hayato mentally identifies the rest of the family members that were present at the moment.

Tsuna glances down at the empty seat to his left, which prompts him to ask Ryohei, "Has Kyoko-chan made it in, onii-san?"

"The last time I check, the driver said she will be here in a few minutes." He answers after he checks his phone for any text messages from his younger sister.

He easily sensed an aura of frustration and ire from the silver haired male to his right while the other distinguished Mafia families started to file inside of the ballroom.

"Make sure you apologize to that lady, Gokudera-san." He orders Hayato, who merely agrees to the command only because it was from Juudaime.

"I will." Hayato assures prior to the official start of the ceremony as the white haired male from cocktail hour appears behind the podium.

Meanwhile…

"The ceremony has officially started ladies." The elderly lady piercingly broadcasts to the mass of women and girls that presently work under her for the evening.

"You each have been assigned to a specific area. Make sure you serve that area and that area _only_." She sternly advises the cluster of females in front of her.

"So which family do you think you will serve this time, Haru-chan?" Suzuka curiously poses to the brunette as the other girls eagerly rush to the board to see their assign area,

"Haru seems to have this cloud of misfortunate over her head. She's always chosen to serve the Ricotta family." She dully answers along with a deep sigh as her shoulders slump forward.

"Cheer up, Haru-chan!" The orange haired girl positively encourages until the maroon haired girl approaches the two which earns a "Hey Mei,"

"I managed to check the board before the famous great stampede nearly trampled me over." The girl name, Mei, says once she catches her breath to speak.

"Let me guess, Suzuka is with you and I have the Ricotta family." Haru automatically assumes with a wave of her hands.

Mei's face displays shock at the assumption from the brunette since she hits it right on the mark. "Suzuka, we will serve the Vongola family and Haru you have our family, _again_."

"Wait…we…get… _the_ Vongola family?" Suzuka nervously stutters before she burst in to a fit of excitement at her luck, which soon dies down after she notices the brunette's face.

"We're sorry that you got the family again." Mei quickly apologizes to Haru and claims, "Maybe next time you will have a better chance."

The brunette ultimately sucks up her lost once again, blames it on karma, and encourages the pair, "Make sure you do a good job, ladies."

The two girls, who are her junior, stare at her face a little while longer before they nod their heads and utter a "thank you".

She briefly looks over the floor layout with family names and for some odd reason her eyes always hone in on the "Vongola family".

' _They're like every other Mafia family…spoil, pretentious, and uncourteous.'_ Haru concludes after her brief run in with the silver haired male from that family.

She then turns her sights on to the orange and maroon haired girls, who exchange their routine hand shake and wishes each other luck.

"How can those two be so lucky to always work together?" Haru irritably grumbles prior to her departure from the kitchen and in to the foyer to gather herself.

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A black car frantically screeches to a halt in front of an extravagant Japanese hotel as a woman with long orange hair and brown eyes quickly emerges from the car.

She swiftly yet elegantly bounds up the steps that lead inside of the hotel and proceeds to search for a sign or familiar faces.

A sign with " _Family Reunion_ " printed on it was pointed in the direction of the ballroom, where scary men in black suits aimlessly roamed about in front of the room.

' _There it is!'_ The woman was thinking while gently lifting up her kimono skirt in order to avoid anything from catching and ripping the delicate fabric.

One of the men in the suits moves to prevent the woman to approach the ballroom and declares, "Uhm, excuse me ma'am but this is an invite _only_ party."

' _Good thing I decided to drop it in my purse.'_ The orange haired woman considers while she remains calm and removes the paper invite from inside of her purse.

The man carefully checks over the invitation until his sights land on the family crest that she represents at the ceremony. He then quickly issues an apology to the woman.

"It's actually my fault since I should have been here a lot earlier." She claims with an expression of understanding present on her face.

The woman swiftly ambles pass the man, who dutifully points her in the direction of where she needs to head to next.

She then notices a brunette woman carry an empty silver tray in her right hand and was about to enter inside of the ballroom.

"Ano…pardon me but could you tell me exactly where the Vongola family is sitting? I'm running a little late." The woman speaks up in order to catch the woman's attention.

Haru stiffly rotates her head to the source of the distraction only to come face to face with a beautiful woman clad in a very exquisite and detail kimono.

' _She's…she's…beautiful!'_ She inwardly admires the woman's beauty until she notices the anxious expression that was present on her face.

"I don't mind Miss…" Haru confirms before she pauses as a means to inquire about the woman's name.

"Kyoko, Sawada, Kyoko, but just call me Kyoko-chan since you're helping me out, 'kay?" The woman politely introduces herself to the woman.

Haru smiles at Kyoko, who appears to be genuinely friendly, and cordially introduces herself, "Nice to meet you Kyoko-chan. Haru's name is Haru, Miura, Haru. You can call her Haru-chan."

"Likewise, Haru-chan," Kyoko says with a warm smile present on her face before Haru proceeds to lead the woman inside of the ballroom.

Inside of the ballroom…

"Judaime, are you alright?" Hayato softly whispers his question of concern to the man that sits on the left of him since he starts to nervously fidgets in his seat.

He had easily noticed throughout the start of the Inheritance that the young man's eyes constantly searched through the crowd for a particular face.

"Kyoko-chan isn't here yet." Tsuna eventually expresses his concern about the young woman not being present at the ceremony.

"You should have a little more faith in her like she does for you, Judaime." The silver haired male coolly suggests in a firm tone prior to his hitman senses start to flare up.

"Here's your party ma'am," A brunette woman announces as she stands behind the lone empty seat at the Vongola's table.

The pair casually peer upward only to come face to face with the brunette woman from the incident earlier at their table with a wide smile on her face.

Then the sight of Kyoko sent a wave of relief over the orange haired male's body as she quietly yet politely greets each individual at the table with a warm smile.

"Ah thank you so very much for your help Haru-san," She cordially thanks the brunette woman, who merely nods her head.

' _That's the woman from earlier!'_ Hayato assumes after he overhears Kyoko kindly addresses the woman from earlier. _'So her name's Haru.'_

Haru felt a pair of eyes immediately locked in on her the moment she had escorted the orange haired beauty to the table.

' _Just ignore it…you have to hurry back and serve the Ricotta family.'_ She silently reminds herself as she makes a speedy departure from the Vongola family's table.

Haru gracefully maneuvers through the other servers until she finally reaches her destination when a falsely smile plants itself on her face.

' _I guess it's time to lose myself in work again.'_ She concluded while she mentally recalled which plates were designated for the first, second and third course.

"So do you plan on eating any of the food that our cooks worked hard on?" Yui overhears Katsumi's voice breaks him out of his gaze on the brunette woman, who delivers plates at the end of their table.

"Besides, it's really rude to stare at someone." He properly admonishes the silver haired male's behavior as he starts on the first course plate.

The blonde quietly watches as his superior releases a deep sigh, slumps his shoulders forward, and discloses, "She won't talk to me and flinched when I reached out to touch her."

"Well what else did you think was supposed to happen?" He sharply questions after he swallows a piece of lettuce from the Ceasar salad.

"Let me guess…you thought that she would happily run in to the arms of her tormentor?" Katsumi teasingly needles as he purposely stabs at another piece of lettuce.

Yui sullenly rests one of his hands over his face when he mutters, "I treated spring unlike the others with the hope that she would notice her special treatment."

"I made sure no other hand but mine touched her whether it was punishment or treatment." He rattles off.

"What am I doing wrong?" Yui inquisitively wonders aloud once frustration finally sets in on the young man while his companion continues to enjoy his meal.

"The answer is rather quite simple." Katsumi expresses after he dabs the edge of his lips with a napkin.

"You're treating her like a little child instead of a grown woman. She's twenty years for crying out loud Yui." He states the obvious as he proceeds to finish the rest of his salad.

Katsumi watches realization dawns across the silver haired male's face as he simply shakes his head at Yui's lack of knowledge about women and their feelings.

A brief silence developed between the two men as the Inheritance Ceremony continued on as plan as the blonde haired boss from the Chiavarone family takes the podium.

"I will heed your advice." He firmly proclaims with a serious expression that almost seem completely outplace for a man of his nature.

Yui continued to keep a close watch over the brunette as he normally do when they were back in his family's home.

Haru poured the right amount of champagne in the empty glass flutes and engaged in brief friendly chats with the members at the table.

A sense of pride swells his chest at the woman, who speedily moves about to service the family when he reminds himself of his promise when she was younger.

' _You will be my woman.'_


	4. Chapter 4

"I hate this stupid family!"Haru irritably grumbles underneath her breath while she aimlessly scrubs at a dirty dish with a wet sponge until it becomes sparkly clean.

"You landed kitchen duty?!" Suzuka curiously posed once she spotted the brunette now in the kitchen stationed at the wash basin.

She gently places one of the many delicate China plates inside of the metal dish rack before she angrily gripes, "It wasn't even Haru's fault! Haru was just doing her job!"

"Sure...if you say so." The young woman jokingly quips before she carefully piles more dishes on to the left side of the sink and then in the dish rack.

A slender woman with waist length platinum blonde hair clad in an elaborate female kimono with a black cigarette stick in between her index and middle finger inquisitively asks, "Why do I hear idle chatter?"

"Sorry madam," The two teens quickly issue the older woman an apology and silently wait until the woman finally departs from within their sights.

"Yeah, you two had a close call there!" Ai coyly mentions since she manages to catch the entire incident before she enters inside of the kitchen.

"Tell us about it." They both exclaim after they release a sigh of relief at the turn of their misfortune.

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"You sure you're alright, Bakadera?" Lambo annoyingly nags at the silver haired Storm Guardian, who presently is behind the wheel of a SUV.

He releases a 'tch' before he irritably threatens the Bovine teen, "Ask me one more time and your belly will be stuff with C4 explosive."

The teenager unexpectedly yet happily proclaims, "That's more like you! Your quietness is creepy as hell!"

"What do we even know about this _Ricotta_ family?" Hayato suddenly wondered about the family that hosted their Inheritance Ceremony.

"Why?" Lambo retorted with a roll of his eyes and his arms now folded in front of his chest.

' _Something's not right about them.'_

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"Family meeting, now!" Lord Ricotta was loudly yelling in the now rather empty ballroom, excluding a few key family members.

He patiently waits for his family members to gather at a random table before he breaks the silence, "I don't know if you're aware of the new golden opportunity that has been presented to us."

"And just what that might be father?" Yui curiously poses as he leisurely leans his chin against the palm of his hands.

His father merely closes his eyes when he makes known, "One of our girls managed to acquire the favor of the Vongola's wife."

" _What_?!" The others were shrieking in surprise at the news of acquiring a potential favor from the Vongola.

The silver haired male lazily leans backward in his seat and dully grumbles, "Is that why that Storm dude came to apologize to spring?"

"Watch your tone Yui." Lord Ricotta swiftly asserts as he focuses his attention on his son and reprimands him, "You've become too _comfortable_ with physical punishment of the girls in front of our special guests."

He simply nods his head when he requests, "So who's the girl that we have to _lend_ out?"

Katsumi chuckles at his question before he provides a response to the young man, "Why, it's your precious _spring,_ "

Yui face instantly contorts to match his inner thoughts until he vehemently verbalizes, "I'll decline the offer myself!"

"You'll do no such thing boy." His father calmly dismisses his son's childish reaction when he reminds her, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to enter a new threshold in the mafia world."

"What makes you think they'll even extend their arms of protection to us? I mean that is if they knew what we really do." Yui immediately reminds his father of what their family really does behind the scenes.

"When have you been so naïve, Yui?" Another family member inquisitively needles the man as they cheerfully sip on the flute of champagne.

"He purposely touched some Poison Ivy and won't get rid of the itch." Katsumi coyly mentions, which earns a shout, "Shut up Katsumi!"

"Then stop wearing your resolve on your sleeves, especially in public." He sternly advises his boss son about his behavior as of late.

Yui unexpectedly bites his tongue at the sheer numbers that were against him about this favor to the Vongola Famiglia. The blonde male then suggests to his boss, "Continue, Lord Ricotta,"

"We will seize this chance and strengthen our bonds with the Vongola Famiglia! Dismissed." He adamantly declares before he calls out to his son.

"Yui, let's take a walk."

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The brunette eventually unplugs the stopper in the sink in order to drain the water down the pipes. She tiredly dries her hands off with the hem of her dress since the sponges were for dishes only.

Haru finally steps back, greatly admires her handiwork and deeply sighs in relief, _'Great job, Haru!'_

She then finds herself walking in the direction of her 'home' while trying not to fall asleep on her feet.

' _It's been a really long boring day. Well…'_ The brunette unexpectedly envisions the orange haired beauty in the Vongola family.

"…I had a bit of fortune, even though I had to apologize for something I didn't do." She thinks before her mind recalls the silver haired, green eyed brute from the Vongola Family.

"I wonder what's up with guys with silver hair anyway."

8888

The father and son duo casually stroll throughout their family's vast mansion in the midst of idle conversation.

"I must say son, when you asked to take over the orphanage…I didn't think you were serious. I thought you were going to go girl crazy from all of the attention that would be on you." His father mentions as he peers over at his son.

A small smile soon graces Yui's face since it was rare for his father to delve out compliments. "Well excluding _one_ but you've done a pretty good job with the outcome."

"Thanks," He accepts the gracious words of kindness along with a nod of his head.

"Soon we will earn a spot in the rankings of the Vongola, Cavarollore, and such…I have a vision of where I want this family to go so ease up the reins."

"…or get bucked off." The older man coolly threatens with a placid expression on his face before he leaves his son to his thoughts.

8888

"Dong" "Dong" "Dong" was the sounds of the gong echoes throughout the Ricotta's household as it signals to the girls that it was morning time.

Haru's body instinctively leaps into action before her feet hit the floor and begins her morning routine. She eventually falls in line with the other girls.

Instead of Yui, Katsumi appeared before them along with a clipboard in his grasp. He proceeds to call the names on the papers and informs them of their duties for today.

"Miura, Haru…you'll accompany me today." The blonde disclosed, which earned some mutters among the girls until they were promptly dismissed to start their day.

"Good morning, Miura-san," He cordially greets her with a small smile on his face.

The pair eventually strolls down the one of the main corridors as the brunette nervously scopes out her surroundings.

"Apparently, you fell in the good graces of the Vongola. So we feel a bit _entitled_ to return an exchange of favors and in order to build that bond of trust, we need you." Katsumi reveals to her as dutifully she falls two steps behind him while they walk and converse with each other.

' _The family needs me?!'_

"I would advise you to not allow this golden opportunity to fall through your hands. You defiantly don't want Yui to punish you for your failure." He advises her when he unexpectedly halts in the middle of his stride in order to look at her.

"Your job is simple…create a genuine and honest friendship with Sawada Kyoko. Are you capable of that?" The blonde honestly wonders after he slightly tilts his head at the woman.

She only nods her head since she did not receive permission to speak so she hears him say, "You'll receive a set of clothes for your outing today. Make sure you bathe and exercise good manners."

' _You act as if Haru's a child.'_ The brunette wanted to dismiss him but knew better to keep her thoughts to herself.

8888

Hayato presently stood in front of the Juudaime's study and for the first time in a while was completely and totally unaware of why he was called there.

"You summon me, Juudaime?" Hayato curiously requests for the reason behind his sudden summons to his study.

"Yes, actually I have a favor to ask of you." Tsuna verbalizes while he places a packet of paper on a pile of papers.

"I forgot that Kyoko had arranged a date with the young lady that helped her at our Inheritance Ceremony. Are you free to accompany her today?" He discloses the reason why he calls the silver haired male.

"Anything for you, Juudaime." The Storm Guardian promptly agrees to the job before he receives his orders and a "thank you".


	5. Chapter 5

The spring sun naturally emits it rays of light on to the citizens of Namimori, who cheerfully welcomes the change from the frigid cold winter to the much warmer gentle weather.

"Don't forget that this is a golden opportunity for the family." Katsumi repeatedly voices while in the back seat of a black SUV.

Haru fought the urge to roll her eyes because she had been constantly reminded about this being a " _golden opportunity_ " for the family.

The blonde casually peers down at the cellular device in his hand before he sternly advises, "Step on it. We're a little behind schedule."

The brunette had to conceal her excitement for her trip outside and away of the Ricotta household. To put it quite frankly, it is a hell hole ance that was an actual nice way to describe it.

They were on such a strict schedule to the point where they were forced to eat, sleep, and bath at a certain time. Regardless of, if they were extremely hungry, tired or stinky. If you were deemed good there was a chance for you to either have: an extra helping of food for dinner, longer bath hours or even new clothes. It was _never_ a free day away from the house so Haru planned to milk this for as long as she can.

Nevertheless, she was genuinely excited to meet up with the orange haired beauty from the Vongola Family, Sawada, Kyoko.

She constantly bited down the sensation to break out in to a wide smile or even whistle a happy tune.

The sudden jerking and screeching sound of tires was immediately snapping out of her thoughts before realizing that they were at the park.

"Immediately report back once the Vongola woman dismisses her." Katsumi abruptly informed the guard that was assigned to her about his assignment.

"They should be at the gazebo. That's in the back portion of the park." He then disclosed the location of where they were supposed to meet up with the Vongola.

"Your life depends on it, Miura-san." The blonde solemnly declares to her before she exits out of the vehicle and patiently waits on the sidewalk for her "escort".

Her chocolate brown orbs slowly take in the greenery of the park's landscape and the clay like design of the playground. _'This is so...awesome!'_

As she was about to take a step forward toward the playground, a hand instantly halts her in her tracks.

"Gazebo," was the simple word that was uttered from the man as it quickly snaps her back into reality.

Haru merely nods her head and walks ahead in front of the man while she secretly squeals from excitement, _'I'm so excited!'_

The sight of a massive wooden gazebo finally enters in their line of vision as she searches for the orange haired woman.

Instead she spotted a bob of silver, which naturally caused her to tense when she inwardly assumed, _'I thought Yui was at the mansion!'_

Just before panic could ensue, a feminine voice cheerfully greets her with "Haru-chan" along with a tight embrace.

A wide smile spreads across her face before she happily returns it, "Kyoko-chan" once she separates from the woman.

"Your outfit…is so cute!" The brunette gushes after she notices the woman in a light green mid-thigh drees with a clench frilly hem. A darker green hoodie covers her arms and dark brown shoes adorn her feet.

A small smile appears on Kyoko's face, who politely returns the compliment with "Yours is too."

' _This ratty old dress is cute?!'_ Haru inwardly wonders as she peers down at the light brown fabric with a simple floral design on the right side, an Avocado green jacket, with black thigh length solid thighs and comfortable shoes.

On the other end, Hayato mentally groans as he watches the women engage in " _girl talk_ ".

' _You're doing this for the tenth, be strong!'_ His inner voice constantly reminds him while he annoyingly rolls his eyes and stuffs his hands inside of his pocket.

' _I've never seen Kyoko-san this happy to be around a stranger but then again…her brother is Ryohei.'_ The silver haired was instantly reminded who her older sibling was, the loud mouth boxer Turf head.

He releases a sigh when he notices that the two women start to venture down the gazebo and out on to the park.

A "finally" emitted from his mouth at the sight of movement when his eyes caught sight of the 'guard' they assigned to the brunette.

The man was clad in dark colors, glasses and an earpiece, which made him stick out like a sore thumb among the other casual dressed people.

' _What are they trying to prove?'_ Hayato poses as he hangs back from the women and the man as well.

8888

Tsuna emits a long drawn out sigh while his eyes land on the piles of paperwork that graces the surface of his desk.

He casually leaned back into his chair and started to gently massage his temples to prevent a headache before he felt something kick the back of his chair.

A "damn" unknowingly emitted from his mouth as he speedily swerved to see the reason why his chair was kicked.

"Old habits die hard, neh Reborn?" The brunette loudly hisses his question in pain while he gently rubs the back of his head.

The former Sun Arcabelon simply cracks his infamous smirk and tilts his fedora forward at the boss of the Vongola family.

"It's good to see you too, No Good Tsuna." He purposely quips as he slides in one of the free seat in front of Tsuna.

Reborn naturally scans his surroundings before he speaks, "I heard that the Inheritance Ceremony went off without a hitch."

"Ah, yes it did. Too bad you had a mission at the time but we made sure to take plenty of pictures." Tsuna replies before he reaches for one of the frames on his desk.

The hitman graciously accepts the metallic object, carefully studies the picture and alleges, "Is that the Ricotta Familigia?"

Tsuna peers up at his former mentor after he hears the tone he uses when he mentions that particular family name. "Is there something wrong?"

"You do know what this Familigia is really known for, right?" His tone morphs from causal to seriousness when he answers his own question, "Human Trafficking,"

"Their hospitality is merely a front they use for the exploitation of humans, specifically young girls." Reborn clarifies while he returns the frame back on his desk.

"Apparently, one of the girls helped Kyoko out." The Vongola Boss eventually reveals the reason when he hears Reborn verbalizes, "I should have known. Does that explain why your right hand man is absent as well?"

Tsuna silently nods his head before he receives another warning from his mentor, "Do not extend any arms of relations with them."

8888

' _Whew…that was too much work!'_ Yui inwardly exclaims with a stretch of his stiff body until he hears a couple of pops from his bones.

He then peers over at the analog clock above his office door and reads the time. _'They should be on their lunch hour.'_

The silver haired male pushes away from the desk before he hops to his feet and exits his office space.

' _All work and no play…makes Yui a dull boy.'_ He mentally chimes as he ventures over in the direction of their Geisha house.

"Here for a routine check." Yui announces his presence, which sends the girls on a desperate scramble to line up.

As he travels down the line, his mind mentally addresses each and every one of the girls by their respective name. However, he had reached the end of the line and there was no spring.

"Where is…" The silver haired male was about to snap when the sight of a blonde male slides in front of his line of vision.

Katsumi peers down the line and calmly explains, "Miura-san is currently out on a date with a Vongola family member."

"Spring is on a _date_?" He outwardly grunts as he tightly clenches his jaw and balls up his fist from anger.

The silver haired man swiftly faces away from the blonde and proceeds to storm out of the Geisha House until he overhears, "Don't forget what your father told you if you violate the agreement."

Katsumi watches as the man promptly halts and ponders over his thoughts for a few minutes, "Fine".

8888

"Oh good…the restroom!" Kyoko happily exclaims before she excuses herself and dashes toward the restroom.

Haru merely watches as the orange haired woman heads inside of the ladies room while her guard mysteriously disappears from within her line of vision.

Hayato eventually catches up to the brunette when he spots bruises around her neck and his mind recalls exactly how she got those. _'It was because of me.'_

The brunette felt a pair of eyes on her so she swiftly rotated around to say something to the silver haired male until her ears picked up on some racket.

There was a group of boys that swarmed and tormented a young girl with hurtful words, "Your outfits stupid!" "Who would even wear this?!" "Only babies wear that!"

The little girl was on the verge of tears before Haru immediately steps in between the boys and the girl with her hands on her hips.

However, the boys seem unrelenting before starting to viscously attack the older woman with their antics.

' _Stupid woman!_ ' The silver haired male inwardly alleged about the woman in front of him, who was on the verge of being bullied.

Hayato stealthily approaches Haru and flashes the boys a scary glance. His facial expression made them desperately scampered away while they screamed at the top of their lungs, "Monster! It's a monster!"

The brunette simply pulls the skin from underneath her eye, sticks her tongue out, and shouted at them, "You betta run! That'll teach you!"

Her attention turns toward the girl, drops to her level, and questions, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

The child shakes her head a "no" before she encourages her, "Forget those bullies! There are just jealous that they couldn't wear your awesome costume. Haru used to cosplay all the time with her dad and it was the best time of Haru's life. So never let them bring you down."

"Promise?" The brunette sticks her pinkie finger out to the younger child, who happily hooks her pinkie with her, "Pwomise"

' _Maybe she's not that stupid….'_ Haru unknowingly trips over her own two feet, which earns a laugh and the sudden thought of, _'Nope…she's still stupid.'_

Kyoko and the guard had returned at the same time when Haru began to divulge to the woman what just happened a few minutes ago.

"Excuse us, but it's time for us to leave." The guard suddenly revealed to the trio after he slipped his cellphone in his pants pocket.

"Is that so?" Hayato unintentionally utters as he peers over toward the woman, who were now practically join at the hip now.

Haru exchange glances between the guard and Kyoko when she declares,"Haru doesn't want to go. Katsumi-san said Haru can stay until Kyoko-chan dismisses her."

' _Dismisses?'_ The two Vongola family members simultaneously repeat that particular word in their mind.

"I just got orders from Yui-sama. Time to go!" His tone starts to change as he addresses the brunette.

Haru folds her arms in front of her chest and defiantly proclaims, "I'm not leaving!"

At her very last word, the guard immediately executes a take down and promptly calls for the car to come around.

"What the hell is your damn problem?! That's a woman!" Hayato shockingly but angrily shouts after he removes the man from over the brunette.

Kyoko instantly ran over to the still brunette as she nervously asked, "Are you alright, Haru-chan?"

The woman merely groans from the sudden impact of her body against the ground and rolls over on to her back.

"Haru's fine…see no scratches!" Haru cheerfully claims while she points at her face, which clearly has visible marks on her face.

She nervously peers over to Hayato and pleads, "Can you let him go? Haru is the one to blame."

The two watch as the woman stands to her feet, dusts herself off, bows at the waist and recites, "Haru would like to thank you for this date."

"But…" Kyoko was about to protest until Hayato was sticking his arm out to block the orange haired woman from advancing a foot further.

"Gokudera-san, what was that?" She questioned his reason as to why he had stopped her in her tracks.

"It's none of our business." He firmly declares.


	6. Chapter 6

The spring sun naturally emits it rays of light on to the citizens of Namimori, who cheerfully welcomes the change from the frigid cold winter to the much warmer gentle weather.

"Don't forget that this is a golden opportunity for the family." Katsumi repeatedly voices while in the back seat of a black SUV.

Haru fought the urge to roll her eyes because she had been constantly reminded about this being a " _golden opportunity_ " for the family.

The blonde casually peers down at the cellular device in his hand before he sternly advises, "Step on it. We're a little behind schedule."

The brunette had to conceal her excitement for her trip outside and away of the Ricotta household. To put it quite frankly, it is a hell hole ance that was an actual nice way to describe it.

They were on such a strict schedule to the point where they were forced to eat, sleep, and bath at a certain time. Regardless of, if they were extremely hungry, tired or stinky. If you were deemed good there was a chance for you to either have: an extra helping of food for dinner, longer bath hours or even new clothes. It was _never_ a free day away from the house so Haru planned to milk this for as long as she can.

Nevertheless, she was genuinely excited to meet up with the orange haired beauty from the Vongola Family, Sawada, Kyoko.

She constantly bited down the sensation to break out in to a wide smile or even whistle a happy tune.

The sudden jerking and screeching sound of tires was immediately snapping out of her thoughts before realizing that they were at the park.

"Immediately report back once the Vongola woman dismisses her." Katsumi abruptly informed the guard that was assigned to her about his assignment.

"They should be at the gazebo. That's in the back portion of the park." He then disclosed the location of where they were supposed to meet up with the Vongola.

"Your life depends on it, Miura-san." The blonde solemnly declares to her before she exits out of the vehicle and patiently waits on the sidewalk for her "escort".

Her chocolate brown orbs slowly take in the greenery of the park's landscape and the clay like design of the playground. _'This is so...awesome!'_

As she was about to take a step forward toward the playground, a hand instantly halts her in her tracks.

"Gazebo," was the simple word that was uttered from the man as it quickly snaps her back into reality.

Haru merely nods her head and walks ahead in front of the man while she secretly squeals from excitement, _'I'm so excited!'_

The sight of a massive wooden gazebo finally enters in their line of vision as she searches for the orange haired woman.

Instead she spotted a bob of silver, which naturally caused her to tense when she inwardly assumed, _'I thought Yui was at the mansion!'_

Just before panic could ensue, a feminine voice cheerfully greets her with "Haru-chan" along with a tight embrace.

A wide smile spreads across her face before she happily returns it, "Kyoko-chan" once she separates from the woman.

"Your outfit…is so cute!" The brunette gushes after she notices the woman in a light green mid-thigh drees with a clench frilly hem. A darker green hoodie covers her arms and dark brown shoes adorn her feet.

A small smile appears on Kyoko's face, who politely returns the compliment with "Yours is too."

' _This ratty old dress is cute?!'_ Haru inwardly wonders as she peers down at the light brown fabric with a simple floral design on the right side, an Avocado green jacket, with black thigh length solid thighs and comfortable shoes.

On the other end, Hayato mentally groans as he watches the women engage in " _girl talk_ ".

' _You're doing this for the tenth, be strong!'_ His inner voice constantly reminds him while he annoyingly rolls his eyes and stuffs his hands inside of his pocket.

' _I've never seen Kyoko-san this happy to be around a stranger but then again…her brother is Ryohei.'_ The silver haired was instantly reminded who her older sibling was, the loud mouth boxer Turf head.

He releases a sigh when he notices that the two women start to venture down the gazebo and out on to the park.

A "finally" emitted from his mouth at the sight of movement when his eyes caught sight of the 'guard' they assigned to the brunette.

The man was clad in dark colors, glasses and an earpiece, which made him stick out like a sore thumb among the other casual dressed people.

' _What are they trying to prove?'_ Hayato poses as he hangs back from the women and the man as well.

8888

Tsuna emits a long drawn out sigh while his eyes land on the piles of paperwork that graces the surface of his desk.

He casually leaned back into his chair and started to gently massage his temples to prevent a headache before he felt something kick the back of his chair.

A "damn" unknowingly emitted from his mouth as he speedily swerved to see the reason why his chair was kicked.

"Old habits die hard, neh Reborn?" The brunette loudly hisses his question in pain while he gently rubs the back of his head.

The former Sun Arcabelon simply cracks his infamous smirk and tilts his fedora forward at the boss of the Vongola family.

"It's good to see you too, No Good Tsuna." He purposely quips as he slides in one of the free seat in front of Tsuna.

Reborn naturally scans his surroundings before he speaks, "I heard that the Inheritance Ceremony went off without a hitch."

"Ah, yes it did. Too bad you had a mission at the time but we made sure to take plenty of pictures." Tsuna replies before he reaches for one of the frames on his desk.

The hitman graciously accepts the metallic object, carefully studies the picture and alleges, "Is that the Ricotta Familigia?"

Tsuna peers up at his former mentor after he hears the tone he uses when he mentions that particular family name. "Is there something wrong?"

"You do know what this Familigia is really known for, right?" His tone morphs from causal to seriousness when he answers his own question, "Human Trafficking,"

"Their hospitality is merely a front they use for the exploitation of humans, specifically young girls." Reborn clarifies while he returns the frame back on his desk.

"Apparently, one of the girls helped Kyoko out." The Vongola Boss eventually reveals the reason when he hears Reborn verbalizes, "I should have known. Does that explain why your right hand man is absent as well?"

Tsuna silently nods his head before he receives another warning from his mentor, "Do not extend any arms of relations with them."

8888

' _Whew…that was too much work!'_ Yui inwardly exclaims with a stretch of his stiff body until he hears a couple of pops from his bones.

He then peers over at the analog clock above his office door and reads the time. _'They should be on their lunch hour.'_

The silver haired male pushes away from the desk before he hops to his feet and exits his office space.

' _All work and no play…makes Yui a dull boy.'_ He mentally chimes as he ventures over in the direction of their Geisha house.

"Here for a routine check." Yui announces his presence, which sends the girls on a desperate scramble to line up.

As he travels down the line, his mind mentally addresses each and every one of the girls by their respective name. However, he had reached the end of the line and there was no spring.

"Where is…" The silver haired male was about to snap when the sight of a blonde male slides in front of his line of vision.

Katsumi peers down the line and calmly explains, "Miura-san is currently out on a date with a Vongola family member."

"Spring is on a _date_?" He outwardly grunts as he tightly clenches his jaw and balls up his fist from anger.

The silver haired man swiftly faces away from the blonde and proceeds to storm out of the Geisha House until he overhears, "Don't forget what your father told you if you violate the agreement."

Katsumi watches as the man promptly halts and ponders over his thoughts for a few minutes, "Fine".

8888

"Oh good…the restroom!" Kyoko happily exclaims before she excuses herself and dashes toward the restroom.

Haru merely watches as the orange haired woman heads inside of the ladies room while her guard mysteriously disappears from within her line of vision.

Hayato eventually catches up to the brunette when he spots bruises around her neck and his mind recalls exactly how she got those. _'It was because of me.'_

The brunette felt a pair of eyes on her so she swiftly rotated around to say something to the silver haired male until her ears picked up on some racket.

There was a group of boys that swarmed and tormented a young girl with hurtful words, "Your outfits stupid!" "Who would even wear this?!" "Only babies wear that!"

The little girl was on the verge of tears before Haru immediately steps in between the boys and the girl with her hands on her hips.

However, the boys seem unrelenting before starting to viscously attack the older woman with their antics.

' _Stupid woman!_ ' The silver haired male inwardly alleged about the woman in front of him, who was on the verge of being bullied.

Hayato stealthily approaches Haru and flashes the boys a scary glance. His facial expression made them desperately scampered away while they screamed at the top of their lungs, "Monster! It's a monster!"

The brunette simply pulls the skin from underneath her eye, sticks her tongue out, and shouted at them, "You betta run! That'll teach you!"

Her attention turns toward the girl, drops to her level, and questions, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

The child shakes her head a "no" before she encourages her, "Forget those bullies! There are just jealous that they couldn't wear your awesome costume. Haru used to cosplay all the time with her dad and it was the best time of Haru's life. So never let them bring you down."

"Promise?" The brunette sticks her pinkie finger out to the younger child, who happily hooks her pinkie with her, "Pwomise"

' _Maybe she's not that stupid….'_ Haru unknowingly trips over her own two feet, which earns a laugh and the sudden thought of, _'Nope…she's still stupid.'_

Kyoko and the guard had returned at the same time when Haru began to divulge to the woman what just happened a few minutes ago.

"Excuse us, but it's time for us to leave." The guard suddenly revealed to the trio after he slipped his cellphone in his pants pocket.

"Is that so?" Hayato unintentionally utters as he peers over toward the woman, who were now practically join at the hip now.

Haru exchange glances between the guard and Kyoko when she declares,"Haru doesn't want to go. Katsumi-san said Haru can stay until Kyoko-chan dismisses her."

' _Dismisses?'_ The two Vongola family members simultaneously repeat that particular word in their mind.

"I just got orders from Yui-sama. Time to go!" His tone starts to change as he addresses the brunette.

Haru folds her arms in front of her chest and defiantly proclaims, "I'm not leaving!"

At her very last word, the guard immediately executes a take down and promptly calls for the car to come around.

"What the hell is your damn problem?! That's a woman!" Hayato shockingly but angrily shouts after he removes the man from over the brunette.

Kyoko instantly ran over to the still brunette as she nervously asked, "Are you alright, Haru-chan?"

The woman merely groans from the sudden impact of her body against the ground and rolls over on to her back.

"Haru's fine…see no scratches!" Haru cheerfully claims while she points at her face, which clearly has visible marks on her face.

She nervously peers over to Hayato and pleads, "Can you let him go? Haru is the one to blame."

The two watch as the woman stands to her feet, dusts herself off, bows at the waist and recites, "Haru would like to thank you for this date."

"But…" Kyoko was about to protest until Hayato was sticking his arm out to block the orange haired woman from advancing a foot further.

"Gokudera-san, what was that?" She questioned his reason as to why he had stopped her in her tracks.

"It's none of our business." He firmly declares.


	7. Chapter 7

Tsuna instinctively senses the air in the room instantly shifts from light and friendly to solemn and seriousness after Reborn issues a stern warning about the Ricotta Familigia.

He tilted his fedora forward to cover his eyes as he addressed the Juudaime in a grave tone, "Prostitution is one of the oldest jobs in the book but profiting off of the misery of human beings, that is why Human Trafficking is frowned upon…even in the Mafia world."

"It makes me sick to my stomach to even know that we recognize them in the Mafia world, even though the Committee is well aware of their secret dealings. Sure we have to exterminate a few bleak and occasionally bright spots from the world through assassination, but it's one of the cardinal principles of being in the Mafia. We, as members of the Family, live and die for the Familigia that we have sworn the utmost loyalty to serve until our last breath." Reborn conveys his disdain for the Ricotta Familigia without so much as a rise in his tone.

' _A man who knows how to express himself without a single flash of emotion on his face or in his tone. That ability is what makes Reborn-san the greatest hitman ever.'_ Tsuna inwardly surmises about the man that presently sits in front of him.

He releases a quiet sigh and readjusts his tie and leans back into the chair still with his brim over his eyes.

"I look forward to see how you'll deal with the Ricotta Familigia in the near future." The Sun flame welder whispers in a mysterious fashion.

8888

Katsumi deeply sighed since he was on his way back to the Geisha house in order to cover Yui's rounds since he suddenly became depressed.

' _All because he's upset that Miura, Haru is on a date.'_ He mentally grips with a shake of his head at how emotional his boss can be about a woman that does not even care for him.

At first, he never really liked the fact that his first test to prove his loyalty was to watch over the boss son as a babysitter plus deal with their infamous Geisha house.

The blonde inwardly recalled how he had adamantly protested against the idea of Human Trafficking, "Anyone who takes the lives of others in servitude deserve to dwell in the lowest pits of hell and suffer for all eternity."

Apparently, that was all the head boss of the Ricotta family needed to hear before being swiftly sworn into the family.

He simply shakes his head to get rid of the old memory as he grabs the clipboard at the front door and enters inside of the building.

The Geisha House was exactly that, it resembled the old fashioned two-storied buildings back when being a Geisha was profoundly prominent entertainment. It was a simple cube shape wooden building with darker brown shingles and an open doorway with a red frame.

There was nothing openly lavish or flamboyant about the outside that is until you entered through the front door and then splashes of colors brightly greeted you.

The bottom floor was exclusively sectioned off for patrons that paid a rather hefty entrance fee to rent a room. The only people that were allowed to enter on the second floor were the boss, Yui, the madam and himself.

His sights eventually check the clock that was on the far end of the hallway when his eyes read the time and inwardly assumes, _'It's almost opening time.'_

The blonde leisurely turns the corner in order to climb the flight of steps that connects the first floor to the second floor.

He was immediately greeted by feminine voices once his head peaks through the opening, "Welcome Katsumi-san,"

The young man did not have to utter a single command word as the women knowingly proceed to form a line for inspection, which leads him to deem, _'Just like clockwork every time.'_

8888

Haru gently taps her face while she tenderly flinches and hisses from the pain of the scratches that were currently on her face.

Her mind had reverted back to a few minutes ago, when the brute of a guard had forcefully pinned her to the asphalt.

She was more embarrassed at the fact that it openly occurred in front of Kyoko and even the arrogant silver haired male only known by Gokudera.

" _What the hell is your damn problem? That's a woman."_ _Hayato shockingly shouts after he removes the man from over the brunette._

 _Kyoko instantly ran over to the brunette as she nervously asked, "Are you alright, Haru-chan?"_

 _The woman merely groans from the sudden impact of her body against the ground and rolls over on to her back._

" _Haru's fine…see no scratches." Haru claims while she points at her face, which has visible marks on her face._

 _She nervously peers over to Hayato and pleads, "Can you let him go? Haru is the one to blame."_

 _The two watch as the woman stands to her feet, dusts herself off, bows at the waist and recites, "Haru would like to thank you for this date."_

The brunette was quickly shuffled toward a vehicle when she thought she overheard Kyoko's voice, probably about to protest against the inappropriate behavior.

' _Yui is going to kill you.'_ She inwardly deems after she eyes the man, who currently sits in the driver seat.

Her mind eventually recalled an incident a year or two ago where she and a fellow girl was unintentionally harmed by a drunken patron. The man mysteriously disappeared a few days after the incident before his body was finally found in a nearby river by a local news station.

Ever since then, Haru knew that the Ricotta Famgila were extremely dangerous people and not ones to be taken lightly at all.

The brunette releases a deep sigh while she gently taps the marks and wonders if they would leave a permanent scar.

 **8888**

Hayato noted that Kyoko had been abnormally quiet ever since her unpredictable encounter with the brunette and her guard at the park.

He too had felt something similar to what the orange haired woman presently felt at the moment, sheer and utter disgust.

' _I hate families like those.'_ The green eyed man inwardly snaps while his vision narrows in on the road in front of him.

The silver haired male 'tsk' at the lack of respect that the Ricotta Familga showed toward women, regardless of if they were stupid or not.

His hands tightly clenched the wheel of the vehicle before he remembered a similar encounter from his past.

"It's best not to dwell on things that you can't change." Hayato unknowingly recites aloud once they stop at the red traffic light.

Kyoko cuts her eyes away from what was in front of them and utters, "I can't help but to think about what she has to endure on a daily basis."

Hayato could clearly envision the hell that Miura, Haru had to live through on a day-to-day basis based on the hue of the bruises that he could visibly see with his own eyes.

' _Even the eyes of those quickly approaching death…are a bit easier to accept than those who are slowly dying while living.'_

"There is nothing that we can do about it." He sternly stated as he decided to remain focus on the task at hand.

Kyoko frantically twiddles her thumbs in her lap before she utters, "Even still…isn't there something that we can do?"

Hayato releases a deep sigh, briefly leans his back against his driver's seat, and proclaims, "I know you are concerned for her safety but it is out of our hands, Kyoko-san."

 **8888**

Yui politely knocks on a set of wooden double doors, waits for a few seconds for the door to open, and enters inside of his father's study room.

It was a fairly modest quarter compared to the exquisite interior of the Geisha House, which one would think should be decorated in reversed. Yet his father felt it best communicated that he was a practical and an orderly man or at least that was what he thought his father honestly believed about himself.

In his eyes, his father had wealth, status and connections, which were the three most critical things to have if you ever want to survive in the dangerous world of the Mafia.

It was something that he secretly envied and sought after for himself.

' _One day…I'll sit in that seat for myself.'_ The silver haired male inwardly declared a silent oath after he approached the desk.

"Good afternoon father," He made sure that he remained cordial and courtesy even if anger seeped from every pore on his body.

The older man removes a pair of glasses from his face, places the sheet and eyeware on the table, and faces his son.

"I take it that you heard the news about, Miura, Haru." He purposely spoke up with his eyes glue on to his son in order to read his facial expression and body language.

' _The bastard knew about this and didn't even bother to tell me!'_ Yui angrily snaps at his father in his mind but instead he inquiries to him, "Who gave permission for Spring to go out on a _date_?"

His father heartedly chuckles at the expression on his face before he provides an answer, "I gave an executive order to the Madam, which she acted accordingly. Katsumi transported her to and from the given location."

"You allowed _Katsumi_ totransport her?" He irritably quips at the fact that Katsumi was on transport for the date instead of him.

"Yes, because he's more suited for the position. You currently have a conflict of interest in your heart." His father comments while he narrows his sights in on his son.

Yui unknowingly quirks an eyebrow at his father's comment, which prompts him to question, "What do you mean by _a conflict of interest in my heart_ father?"

The older man deeply sighs as he straightens his posture before he casually addresses his son, "When a young man finds a particular, or should I say a _specific_ woman that catches his eye, his brain has this awful knack to closely hone in on just that one woman and her actions whether subtle or visibly."

"At first the sensation is a bit uncontrollable, especially if he is unaware of how others view him. However, over time he will learn how to control those sudden impulses or he will soon find himself on the back burner." He threatens his child with a smile present on his face.

' _Bastard…'_


	8. Chapter 8

"Is it safe for me to ask why you're here?" Tsuna inquisitively poses to the man that presently sits in front of him, who he personally addresses as his home tutor and mentor.

He merely tilts his head forward again until the black brim of his fedora covers the top portion of his eyes when he speaks, "I happened to be in the neighborhood ever since my flight from Italy."

"Speaking of Italy, how's the ninth doing?" The brunette male curiously inquiries about the health of the older man, who was his predecessor in the Vongola Famiglia.

"Extremely frail nevertheless he's in good spirit. He's proud of what you've accomplished so far…No Good Tsuna." Reborn replies with a small smirk present on his face as he envisions the face of the weak older man with a smile on his face.

The phone on his desk proceeds to ring as he purposely waits until the third ring " _rings_ " and picks it up to answer. "Juudaime, it's me the furious Storm that never ceases."

"Gokudera-san, what's wrong?" Tsuna immediately asks after he receives the verbal confirmation that it was indeed Hayato Gokudera on the other end of the line.

"Nothing, Kyoko-san and I just left from her rendezvous with that woman from the Ricotta Famiglia." The silver haired male quickly quells the nervousness in his boss tone.

"Her name's Haru-chan, Gokudera-san." Kyoko promptly spoke up since he addressed Haru as " _that woman_ " and not by her given name.

He merely rolls his green eyes before he proceeds to comment, "Boss in my honest opinion, I don't think Kyoko nor any family member should meet up with her again."

"Yes, I will." The orange haired woman defiantly remarked with a stern expression present on her face and her arms now folded in front of her chest.

"I see. How about this...we'll discuss it in further detail once you get here." Tsuna offers up a temporary truce between the two since he knows how stubborn those two can become on a certain topic.

After he hears an "okay" from his Storm Guardian, he finally ended the conversation only to hear his guest firmly alleges, "You ought to listen to your right hand man."

The Vongola boss merely nods his head in agreement before he abruptly wonders, "You wouldn't happen to have any free time on your schedule by chance?"

A small smirk simply stretched across his face as a response to the question from the young man.

 **8888**

Haru physically and mentally shuddered at the sight of the Ricotta mansion that appeared to darkly loom on the horizon, which earns the simple thought of ' _Ugh..._ '

The vehicle slowly motors along the driveway and briefly parks in front of the entrance way before the guard hops out, rounds the vehicle and opens the door for her. Much to her immediate displeasure, she was warmly greeted by Yui and a quiet Katsumi.

"Spring…what happened to your _face_?" The silver haired man needles as his voice openly conveys his concern while his hands gently graze over the visible cuts and bruises on her face.

' _Your brute of an escort manhandled Haru!_ ' The brunette inwardly admitted after she purposely cut her eyes over at the stocky man clothed in black.

"I tripped and fell." She easily provides a lie to the man for the simple fact that she wants the guard to live to see another day.

On the other hand, Katsumi merely narrows his sight on the woman in front of Yui after he comments, "You really are a clumsy woman. What am I going to do with you, Spring?"

His oblivious agreement to her blatant lie led the blonde to mentally determine, _'He fell for the oldest trick in the book.'_

Yui appeared to have genuinely accepted it as a legitimate excuse, backed away from the brunette, and said, "We have much to discuss about your _unexpected_ little trip."

' _Ugh...just Haru's luck.'_ The young woman annoyingly deems with a roll of her eyes before she nods her head forward to show she understands.

Katsumi then promptly leads the pair to the boss office while Yui cheerfully converses with a rather mute Haru.

"Ah, welcome Miura-san," The man behind the desk, cordially greeted her with what appeared to be a genuine smile plastered on his face.

"I've heard quite a bit about you from my son, Yui." He speaks in a calmly tone, which only earns a thought of irritation, _'Just great...like father like son.'_

The older man casually leans back against the body of his chair when he honestly admits, "I must personally thank you for the golden opportunity you created for the Ricotta Familiga."

' _Katsumi repeatedly mentioned that earlier when Haru was with him in the morning. Haru wonders what they mean by that?'_ Haru curiously wonders exactly what this "golden opportunity" is and why were they adamant to thank her for it.

The man notices the confusion on her face before he explains to her exactly what he means by golden opportunity. "We've been desperately trying to establish a line of communication with the Vongola Famigila so we were hoping that by hosting their Inheritance Ceremony we could set up a meeting that way. You, Miura Haru, managed to land that for us. And for that, I'm in your debt."

' _Haru's no fool and the Vongola aren't either.'_ She quickly dismisses the older man's claims of a friendly relationship with the Vongola in her thoughts.

"Come sit and please inform us about your outing." He politely orders for her to reveal about any event that happens on her date.

Haru deliberately remains deathly silent and still, which earns an unreadable expression on the older man's face.

"Now Miura-san, I have been nothing but a gracious host that fed and clothe you and even put a roof over your head. The least you can do is tell me what happened."

He then calmly snaps his fingers and movement occurred, "Now speak."

 **8888**

Takashi was currently washing his hands underneath the gushing cold water before cutting it off and drying his hand on a clean towel.

"That sure was a busy lunchtime." I-Pin dramatically voices once she passes through the wooden flap and in to the back room.

The Chinese assassin would often volunteer whatever free time she had between her studies, deliveries for Kawahara, and training with the Storm Arcabeleno Fon to help him with his father's restaurant.

She truly is a sweet girl with a heart of fold, which leads him to wonder exactly why she became a hitman in the first place.

"How's the search for a waiter/waitress going?" The teenager curiously inquiries about whether or not the young man finds someone to help him with his family restaurant.

"I hardly have anytime to really interview people for the position." He honestly confesses while he folds the towel and returns it to the rack.

I-Pin quickly stacks the plates in their respective places in the cabinet when she comments, "Tsuna-kun keeps us really busy."

"So how's school coming along?" Takashi changes the topic of the conversation from him and on to her.

"Fairly easy," She answers before she closes and locks the cabinet with a small silver key and quickly mentions, "I'm more concerned about Lambo-kun though."

"Oh great…what did he do now?" He curiously wondered what other mishaps has the teen been recently apart of.

"He hasn't been taken his studies seriously." The teenager reveals as she casually leans against the wooden counter with an expression of concern on her face.

"Did you tell Gokudera-san this?" The brunette poses to the younger girl after he reorganizes the sharpen knives in the drawer.

"I planned to at first plus I even told him that I was going to tell him but…" I-Pin admits as her voice unknowingly trails off, which earns the question, "But what?"

"He told me Bakadera isn't his dad. The teacher already referred him for a Cram School. His lesson starts immediately once she gets a call back." She answers his question along with a shake of her head out of disappointment.

' _That'll interfere with a lot of our future plans.'_ Takashi instantly determined since recently the family had become quite busy even before the Inheritance Ceremony took place.

He releases a deep sigh at the news that Lambo studies have taken a turn for the worse before he eventually decides his move for the young man. "I'll talk to him before I tell Gokudera."

"Thank you, Yamamto-san." I-Pin cheerfully thanks the older man with a smile on her face.

 **8888**

Ryohei jogs through the main entrance of the Vongola compound when a car speedily passes by him and parks in the driveway.

He simply removes the ear pieces from inside of his ears and notices that his younger sister and Octopus Head emerge from within the confines of the vehicle.

"Kyoko-chan, Octopus head," He cordially greets the two once he approaches the duo, who currently stands at the doorway.

The Storm Guardian merely rolls his eyes at the older man and openly comments, "I don't have time for this."

"Onii-chan," The orange haired woman politely greets her older brother with a smile on her face when she hears him say, "I was looking for you earlier."

"Oh sorry about that, I had a date." The young woman explains where she was during the earlier part of the day.

"With Octopus head?" Ryohei instantly needled with an expression of accusation, which prompts Kyoko to giggle at his allegation.

"No silly, I made a friend with this girl who was at the Inheritance Ceremony." She clarifies to him what she means by a date.

"Does Tsuna-san know you have this sudden extreme like for girls?" Her older brother quickly follows up with another accusation.

"You're going to fry your brain from over usage, Turf Head." Hayato annoyingly quips with a shake of his head at Ryohei's thought process.

"Gokudera-san might just be right." She gently places her hand on one of his shoulders, tilts her head and comments, "There are many things other than Tsu-kun that I like nii-san. Remember that."

The older silver haired male simply watched as both his sister and Octopus Head left him to his suspicious about Kyoko and her sudden taste in women.

 **8888**

Haru's body was completely limp in the two men's hands before being roughly and aimlessly tossed inside of a basement dungeon-like cell.

The sound of a " _slam"_ along with a " _clink"_ noise loudly echoed throughout the damp darken cage she was currently locked in.

"You'll learn to stop being so damn stubborn Spring." Yui coldly advises her before he departs from in front of her cell.

Haru remains face forward on the cold rocky surface of the floor, which in an odd way starts to soothe the pain from her wounds.

 _'This actually hurted for once.'_ The brunette considers as she gently presses her face against the uneven surface.

A guttural groan was emitting from her mouth after an attempt to move her now stiff neck that was only resulting in even more excoriating pain for her.

' _Haru really hates this family.'_

 **8888**

Lambo lazily drags his feet against the floor, barges inside of his room and merely tosses himself onto the surface of his twin size bed.

Exhaustion soon begins to wash over his body while he irritably grips, _'Why does Cram School even open up on weekends?'_

His homeroom teacher recently referred him to one apparently because his grade had significantly dropped over the past couple of weeks.

The wavy haired teen lazily rolls onto his back as his eyes now stare up at the ceiling when he thinks, _'I had to get ready for the Inheritance Ceremony and school was getting in the way of that.'_

' _What's the point of even going to school?'_ He irritably wonders while he peers over at the pile of homework on his desk.

' _I do it after I take this nap.'_


	9. Chapter 9

[ **HARU** ]

"Drip", "Drip", "Drop" is the rhythmic sound of raindrops that repeatedly fall from a crack in the ceiling and onto the uneven stony floor.

It was a tune all too familiar to the young lady, who presently occupies the cell.

Thoughts of rage, frustrations and utter hopelessness constantly filled her mind as a reminder of how she was in her current predicament.

Her beloved father unintentionally gambled away loans that a loan shark purposely funded him in order to feed his sinful temptation: _Greed_.

Her mother had long abandoned both her and the man, who she once claimed was "a mere shell of the loving man she once knew and love". Secretly Haru wished that it was a wakeup call for him to do better in life and attempt to win the love of his life back.

Yet, it had the complete opposite effect on him. He stayed out longer than usual, openly flirted with married women and carelessly balled out on his paycheck.

Meanwhile, the interest on his loan continued to skyrocket beyond his means of repayments. His loan shark was completely fed up with her father's antics and came to collect his well overdue collateral.

"Drip", "Click", "Drip", "Click", "Drop" temporarily surfaces her from the painful flashbacks of her past when she swears she hears some footsteps in a distance.

That very same sound closely approaches her door as she instinctively dives under the bed to hide. It was a rather lenient plan since she was then deliberately coaxed out of her concealed space.

It was at that moment did she come face to face with a silver haired man with an unreadable expression. ' _The devil in the flesh,'_

"Excuse me," A quaint feminine voice completely breaks her focus from the past and rapidly reels her back to the present.

"By any chance, are you…Miura, Haru?" The woman enquiringly asks while she attempts to register a name with the voice.

The brunette hesitantly confirms her identity to the woman on the other end of the bars, "Yes, this is Haru,"

"Oh good, I thought the guard gave me the wrong cell number." She thankfully exasperates as Haru simply narrows her brown eyes on the woman's shadowy outline.

"It's a pleasure to meet the young lady that has turned this place and Yui completely upside down on their heads." The woman cheerfully remarks with a toothy grin present on her face.

' _How did she know that?'_ The brunette inwardly wondered how the strange woman in front of her personally knew Yui.

But before the question was even uttered from her lips, the guard's stern tone cuts through their conversation, "Ma'am, it's time to go."

"We'll resume our girl talk at a later time, shall we darling?" She hopefully proposes before she disappears from in front of the cell.

[ **VONGOLA HQ** ]

"Reborn-san…ah good afternoon, if I knew you were coming I would have picked you up from the airport." Hayato shockingly greets the Sun Arcabeleno, who presently occupies one of the two seats in the Juudaime's study.

He nods his head forward before he simply comments, "As would any good right hand would naturally offer for a member of the Famiglia."

"Reborn and I were just catching each other up on things." Tsuna quickly catches the silver haired male up on their conversation before his arrival.

The Storm Guardian then slides into the empty seat before he remarks, "I heard there was mission that unfortunately coincided with the Inheritance Ceremony date."

"Knowledgeable about all Famiglia movements, impressive Gokudera," He offers an honest compliment of his ability to stay inform of each and every member's actions before he vaguely explains, "It was of the upmost grave importance."

"I handled this mission as quickly as I possibly could but then again, I'm just a mere human, _now_." Reborn asserts as he tilts his head forward again and allows Leon to crawl down from his brim.

"As if that would ever slow you down, Reborn-san," Tsuna speaks in disbelief of the Mafia's Number One Hitman being human.

"Nevertheless, I received a complimentary gift and a DVD disk with the ceremony on it from the Ricotta Famiglia." He easily diverts the current topic back to the original topic of their conversation.

Gokudera verbally " _huffs_ " and declares, "They sure know how to host a party even with the minor hiccup we encountered."

"You still can't be upset about that, Gokudera-san?" The brunette instantly quips since he knows exactly the meaning behind the word hiccup.

"Oh yes, I am. I spent almost four hours with that clumsy stupid woman." The silver haired male adamantly declared with a shake of his fist.

"And by stupid woman, he means Miura Haru," A feminine voice abruptly chimes in as the woman enters inside of the study.

"Kyoko-chan," Reborn greets her once she approaches the desk with an expression of confidence on her face.

"Reborn-san? It's always a pleasure to see you." Kyoko politely returns the greeting with a smile on her face, which earns a "Likewise," from him.

"Haru-chan is genuinely friendly," She explains to her husband, which earns a roll of eyes from his right hand guardian.

"More like genuinely stupid." Hayato corrects her before he provides a reason behind his statement, "She let some neighborhood kids bully her when she tried to help this little girl."

"Kids can be pretty mean, Gokurdera-san." Tsuna honestly admits with a slight chuckle, which only causes Reborn to smirk at his former pupil's statement.

"I want to hang out with her again." The orange haired woman declared since Hayato brought the brunette up in their conversation.

"No way in hell! Take Takashi next time but count me out." The silver haired male instantly denies his participation in the next meeting.

"Kyoko-chan, just be careful. We don't know what all they're capable of." Reborn gravely warns the young woman to remain alert about her recent rendezvous.

"It's not for me. It's for Haru-chan. She was so excited to be at the park and enjoy the fresh air that we take for granted. So no, I will not stop my dates with Haru." Kyoko adamantly defends her case to see the brunette woman again.

Hayato opens his mouth to provide a rebuttal to Kyoko's naïvity and explain how the Ricotta plans to exploit her newfound friendship with that stupid woman.

Yet, Reborn beats him to the punch and verbalizes, "Listen…the boss wife has spoken. What is your decision on the matter, Tsuna-san?"

The brunette deeply sighs, closes his eyes, leans against the length of the chair and declares, "Since Kyoko-chan feels so passionately about it…I'll let it continue _but_ it has to be strictly supervised on both ends."

"Oh thank you Tsu-kun, you're really the best." His wife cheers at the idea that her husband permits her to continue to pursue a friendship with Haru.

"But…" Hayato was about to interrupt once again until another voice sternly asserts, "The boss has spoken, Gokudera."

Tsuna then directs his focus from Kyoko and on to Reborn and Hayato, who appears in the middle of a sidebar conversation.

"Thank you for your insight, Gokudrea-kun." He honestly thanks his right hand for his opinion on the situation at hand.

[ **RICOTTA** ]

Yui eventually reenters his father's study once again before one of the butlers offer him a drink, which he politely grabs a bottle of water.

"I see your methods of interrogation have… _improved_?" His father coyly alleges as he watches his son unscrew the cap of the bottle and sips on the cool liquid.

"Man, that some ice cold water," The silver haired male exasperates to himself while he wipes his mouth with the side of his sleeve before he claims, "Practice makes perfection,"

"She's quite the stubborn bull. But I can see why she caught your eye." He mentions with a smirk now present on his face.

Yui raises an eyebrow as he follows up with, "Oh? Is that so now?"

He merely watches his father nod his head forward, shifts his position, and implies, "Her personality reminds me so much of a devilish woman that I know."

A feminine voice unexpectedly yet cordially interrupts the father and son conversation with a remark, "Is that anyway a husband should talk about their lovely _wife_?"

"Mom?" Yui shockingly addresses the woman that stands before him as none other than his mother.

His father verbally scoffs "More like ex-wife" at the sight of the woman with silver hair styled in a high bun that shows off her soft features.

"Yui, how's my baby?" Her light blue eyes seem to twinkle at the sight of her son, who supplies an answer of "Alive".

"You've grown into quite the catch, young man. I must start to make arrangements soon." He overheard his mother mentioned while she closely observed the changes since the last time she saw her child.

His father then slams his fist against the desk and irritably barks at the woman, "Don't poison my son with your rotten picks."

"You act as if you carried and birth him?" The woman easily snaps back after she rolls her eyes at his feeble attempt to scare her.

"Now, now, now, let's not start." Yui immediately inserts himself in order to deviate from a potential argument between the two.

"So what brings you here, mom?"

[ **TAKESHI** ]

After he alarmed the security alarm and secured the locks on his family restaurant, Takeshi ventured to the parking lot that sat behind the building.

"Are you on your way to your next job, I-Pin?" The brunette was curiously inquiring after beholding the Chinese girl unchaining a bike from against the metal fence.

"Mr. Kawahira would be really mad if I don't show up for the dinner rush. He tends to personally request me a lot for his delivers." She reveals while she rolls her bike around toward the entrance/exit of the parking lot.

Takeshi softly chuckles a bit to himself before he admits with a nod of his head, "I know how that is. Thanks for your help again."

"We're family. That's what we do, help each other in times of need." I-Pin gently asserts to the older man along with left and right movements from her index finger.

Her comment brings a smile to the brunette's face since he finds himself in agreement with the mature teenager, "Couldn't have said it any better myself. Make sure you get some sleep too."

Takeshi patiently watches as the young girl boards her bike, waves him goodbye, disappears around the corner and passes in front of the restaurant in order to arrive at her next job.

' _Lambo…you're one lucky dude.'_ He inwardly considers the Bovine teen as he drops his hand back to the side of his body.

The swordsman loads up in one of the delivery trucks that were in the parking lot, he hope Giovanni would take a look under the hood for him. ' _I'll definitely have to offer up a house special if he can find the problem.'_

A heavy sigh escapes his mouth as he cranks up the truck only to hear it slowly jumps to life.

' _I just hope that I can get to him before Gokudera chocks the life out of him once he hears he is in Cram School because of the Inheritance Ceremony._ '

[ **RICOTTA** ]

"I've heard some good things about our famigila lately." The woman cryptically was disclosing after selecting one of the two sofas to settle herself since she was growing tired of standing

"Oh and what might that be?" Yui was curiously posing since his mother was more than capable of easily acquiring such basic information, especially if it concerns with the family's dealings.

She simply flashed a small smile at her son before she continued to reveal what all she heard about them, "That we were able to secure an audience with one of the most powerful Mafia Famiglia... the Vongola."

"We only manage to secure the hosting rights due to our high Hospitality ranking." His father promptly corrects the woman because of her lack of accurate information instead of her being reliant upon untrue gossip.

Her light blue eyes narrow in on the man behind the desk while she crosses her legs at the ankles and declares, "As we should _naturally_ ,"

"The Inheritance Ceremony was amazing mom! You should've came!" Yui eagerly chimes in since he feels the tension between the two starts to resurface.

"I bet." His mom cheerfully agrees with him before she vocalizes, "It's not every day that _the_ Ricotta Famiglia would have direct access to such a prestigious name in the Mafia world."

"Luckily for us, we were able to secure a _golden opportunity_ with the Vongola." His father boastfully jaws before he signals for a butler to bring him a cigar.

She enquiringly repeats "golden opportunity" since her arrogant husband heavily emphasis those two words.

"Mother, Spring was able to create and establish a relationship with the Vongola's wife! Can you believe that?" Yui excitingly bragged about a girl name Spring, who managed to catch the eye of the boss wife.

"A _relationship_?" The silver haired woman questions mostly to herself before she astonishingly states, "Who would've thought that the Tenth's wife had an interest in the same sex?"

His father simply shakes his head while he irritably claims, "Your mind is always somewhere swimming in that filthy gutter of an imagination of yours."

"Spring? I don't recall seeing that name on the recent Geisha House listing." The woman simply ignores the older man's claim as she proceeds to converse with her son about this Spring girl.

"That's because you won't find it as the actual word " _spring_ ". You'll find it written as Miura, Haru." He provides her an explanation after he blows out a thick cloud of smoke from his mouth.

Realization quickly dawns on the young woman, which leads her to teasingly quip, "Oh, I see. And does he have _personal_ monikers for the other girls?"

"Of course not," His father rudely answers while he eases against the length of his chair and leans the chair away from the direction of the woman on the couch.

"How long has this been going on?" She interestedly wonders while she stares at her child, who merely continues to drink water.

He narrows his eyes on the wall in front of him while he thinks about the question and provides a response, "When he first started out as a loan shark, it was one of his more successful collateral collections."

"And let me guess…he then personally requested to overlook the Geisha House operations once she turned of age?" She deliberately alleges as Yui begins to interact with one of the security guards on duty.

His father then cut his eyes over at the woman on the couch and begrudgingly pays her a compliment, "Intuitive as ever,".

An " _hmph_ " emits from her mouth when she boastfully claims, "I'm a woman. We must know these things, especially our own flesh and blood."

Her light blue eyes watch in amusement her son chat with the security guard about this girl name Spring as she inwardly deems, _'So you're really growing up on me, aren't you Yui?'_

"Besides, I already visited the girl in the cellar." She finally confessed where she previously was before she arrived at his private studies with her eyes closed in a relaxed position.

"Yui threw her in the dungeon for blatant insubordination." He eventually revealed the infraction that occurred by the young girl that earned her some time in the cellar.

The silver haired woman seductively licks her lips and instinctively assumes, "She sounds like a pretty stubborn girl."

"Breaking strong women has always been your forte. It irks me to even admit this but I'm rather quite anxious to see what the former Madam of the Geisha House will turn her into."


	10. Chapter 10

[ **RICOTTA** ]

Yui's father loudly scoffs aloud at his wife's comment before he irritably questions, "And just how long do you plan on staying this time?"

A pair of eyes instantly cut over in his direction before she coolly chides, "Last, I check my name is still on the deed so that's all that matters."

' _Such a damn pain in the neck!'_ He ultimately grumbled about the young woman's unannounced presence and attitude that presently occupied his private office.

"Yui darling…" His mother quickly faces toward the young man that stands off to her side and inquiringly asks, "How long do you want me to stay with you?"

The silver haired male eventually faces his mother after he suddenly watches the door swing open before he provides his answer, "Forever,"

His genuine response earns a devious smirk on the woman's face, who then boldly faces the older man behind the desk to declare, "And there you have it, _forever_."

"Katsumi," Yui overhears his father's voice calls out to the blonde male that recently enters inside of the room and orders, "Please escort this _hag_ around the mansion for the duration of her stay."

Katsumi then slightly bows at the waist while he confirms his willing participation to his new assignment with a, "Yes, sir,"

His eyes land on the heart shape face of a rather young woman with what appears as natural silver hair before he politely says, "Madam, if you will this way please."

A smirk stretches across her face when she glances over her shoulder and honestly declares, "You might need to learn a thing or two from Katsumi-kun."

"See you later mom," Yui cheerfully exclaims while he waves his mother off once she disappears behind the wooden double doors.

"Yui," His father eventually speaks up once the two of them were alone in his private study.

"I don't want you to tell your mother anything else about our famiglia business. Understood?" He sternly demands that his son no longer pass on information to his mother.

The silver haired male curiously tilts his head, exchange glances from the door to his father, deeply sighs, and solemnly avows, "Understood,"

Yui then dutifully departs from his father's study in order to leave him to tend famiglia business, which involves a lot of paper work.

His father casually leans back against his chair while he inwardly deems, _'I don't like her sudden arrival here. Something's off…'_

[ **VONGOLA** ]

"I think it's time for me to retire for the night." Reborn suddenly mentioned after the tense conversation that he witnessed between the Tenth's wife and his right hand man

The husband and wife duo simultaneously glance in the man's direction and politely wish him a, "Good night, Reborn-san,"

"Are you alright?" Kyoko instantly poses once the former Arcobaleno departs from in front of them.

Tsuna releases a sigh, leans against his chair, faces his lovely wife, and replies, "I could really use a break right bow _but_ there are some things that need to be completed within the hour."

"How about this...I'll bring it here since you are busy." She offers as a way to compromise since he looks close to death due to exhaustion.

A wide smile stretches across his face before he sincerely wonders, "What did I do to deserve you Kyoko-chan?"

The orange haired woman simply pauses in the middle of her stride, glances over her shoulders and jokingly quips, "It was your dying will."

Tsuna loudly chuckles at his wife's comment, which earns a genuine retort, "You're right."

[ **HARU** ]

A pair of chocolate brown eyes aimlessly wondered about the confines of the dungeon, which was now slightly illuminated from the late afternoon sun.

Her mysterious visitor from earlier constantly cycles through the brunette's mind as she inquiringly ruminates, _'Haru wonders who that woman was?'_

She then shifts her position from on the floor to against the wall right before she deems, _'The pain is starting to fade away.'_

Haru eyes continuously dilate due to the lack of expose light until she finally spots the ray of bright light through the hallway.

' _Haru just wants to live again….'_ The brunette desperately wishes as the longing to be free expeditiously grow with each day that passes in the hell hole.

Haru then feels out for the wall so she can rest her back against something sturdy when she mentally concludes, _'Haru has to get the heck out of here or Haru will slowly rot away.'_

' _Why couldn't Haru have met Kyoko-chan earlier?'_

She closes her eyes and mentally envisions all the potential places that her and the orange haired wife of the Tenth Vongola Boss could have met, _'Maybe we would have been high school best friends or even college roommates!'_

A smile surfaces on her face as the images of school fades only to have the park replace the first image, _'I would've been able to go any and everywhere and meet new people.'_

The brunette deeply sighs, leans her head against the uneven surface and contemplates, _'Too bad…it's all a pipe dream now.'_

A " _clank_ " breaks her out of her thoughts when she notices that the sentry delivers a tray of food and pushes it toward her with a wooden pole when they say, "Dinner".

Haru slowly crawls forward due to some sharp pains and dull aches in her body until she reaches the tray only to see a piece of bread and a cup of water.

She simply grabs the bread, breaks it in half, places one end in her mouth while she gloomily considers, _'Is there a reason why Haru was born?'_

' _If so Haru would love to know for why.'_

[ **VONGOLA]**

Lambo eventually awoke from his daily afternoon nap just in time to hear his stomach loudly and painfully growls from hunger.

His eyes then locate and read the red numbers present on his digital clock's face when he mentally notes, _'I think Kyoko-chan should be finished with dinner by now.'_

He then physically slings his legs from on top of his bed, slips his feet in his cow print slippers, and ventures toward the kitchen.

The teen drowsily trudges inside of the kitchen only to spot the 10th Rain Guardian, Yamamoto Takeshi, at the long wooden table with a bag full of bentos from his family restaurant.

"Good afternoon," The spiky black haired male politely greets the teen upon entrance only to see him physically wave at the older man and stifle a yawn with the other hand.

"How long have you been here?" He curiously poses to the Bovine teen, who then eagerly searches through the large refrigerator to find some food.

"Not long, I decided to join a club since I spend way too much time around you old fogies." Lambo sincerely answers right before his eyes finally catch sight of trays with saran wrap over them.

' _Good…he broke the ice on the subject.'_ The older male inwardly thinks when he purposely follows up with, "Speaking of clubs, how's school going?"

The Bovine teen physically secures a plate, happily heads over to the table and lazily plops down in the seat to enjoy his meal.

"You know…annoying teachers trying to figure out why I'm barely at school." Lambo attempts to downplay the actual reason before he reaches over to secure a pair of chopsticks from a cup.

Takeshi quirks an eyebrow at his comment when he challenges, "You know if you miss so many days in a class they would recommend you to a Cram School in order to make up the classes you miss to graduate."

He closely observes the teen physically tweak at the words " _Cram School_ " once it slips from the Rain Guardian's mouth.

Lambo nervously exchange glances from the door and then on to Takeshi before he softly whispers, "Did I-pin tell you about my teacher forcing me to attend a Cram School?"

As the raven haired male opens his mouth to speak, the kitchen door unexpectedly flies open to reveal an irate Hayato Gokudera.

' _Bad timing,'_ He inwardly grumbles at the sight of his fellow companion, the 10th Storm Guardian and Tsuna-san right hand man, that presently stands at the kitchen door.

The silver haired male angrily stormed over, roughly grabbed the Bovine teen by his collar, and forced him to directly stare in his face.

"Why in the bloody hell are you in a damn Cram School?" He angrily yells while he shakes the teen within his grasp.

"I haven't been in school because of famiglia stuff." Lambo simply answers once he was stable enough to provide a verbal response to the question.

Hayato roughly shakes him again before he jabs his index finger in his chest while he irately threatens, "Don't you dare sullen the famiglia name! You just don't want to handle your business like a man should."

The Bovine teen rolls his eyes before he provides an explanation to his situation, "I was preparing for the upcoming Inheritance Ceremony, which was taking up most of my time."

"You're spewing out excuses, you stupid cow! Judaime would be equally upset as I am if he heard you passed on your studies!" The silver haired male yells at the teen, who visibly rolls his eyes at him.

"Why are you even in my face yelling?!" The teenager angrily snaps at the older man before he speedily follows up with, "It's not like your my father or anything Bakadera!"

A tense quietness instantly develops in the kitchen as the lone witness to the spectacle eventually breaks the silence with, "Lambo-san,"

Hayato merely drops the teen back in the seat, dusts his hands off and gravely declares, "You're right. You're so right. I may not be your _biological_ father but that doesn't mean that I don't care about your well-being."

A "whatever" escapes from the Bovine teen, who merely scoops up his plate and heads to his room.

"Ah Lambo-kun, how are you?" Kyoko cordially questions once she spots the young man emerge from the kitchen with a bento in his hand.

Shockingly, the young man did not provide an immediate response to the question since he was distracted by his rage.

' _I wonder what's wrong with him?'_ The orange haired woman inwardly ponders when she unexpectedly overhears a masculine voice grumbles, "Stupid cow!"

"Maa, Maa, Gokudera-san, don't you think you should have addressed that a bit better?" Takashi was calmly speaking with his palms toward his friend as a gesture of being understanding.

"Did something happen?" A feminine voice inquiringly poses once she enters inside of the kitchen to see Takeshi and Hayato in the midst of what she assumes was an argument.

The black haired male simply greets the woman with, "Hi, Kyoko-chan," and a smile on his face.

Her eyes take in the scene around her, which prompts the following question of, "What happened?"

"Well I-pin told me that Lambo-san was enrolled in a Cram School because he missed too many days in school due to the Inheritance Ceremony." Takeshi revealed to the orange haired woman how the argument started.

"That's not good." Kyoko honestly admits before she follows up with, "Tsu-kun would be extremely disappointed if he heard that was the reason why."

Hayato physically rolls his eyes while he deliberately huffs out, "Just like how your friendship is with that stupid woman from the Ricotta Famiglia?"

Her eyes instantly cut in that direction when she dutifully reminds him, "I thought we already discussed that earlier with Tsu-kun."

"Oh yeah that's right," The green eyed male speaks up before he faces Takeshi and reveals, "You're going to go with her the next time."

Takeshi slightly tilts his head in confusion, which leads to his inquiry of, "Go where?"

The silver haired male merely shakes his head while he discloses with a gesture of his hand, "She plans to have an _active_ friendship with that woman."

"I see." He ultimately utters to himself since he faintly recalls the image of the "stupid" woman that he mentions in their conversation.

"I'm telling you…something's not right with the family." Hayato adamantly declares prior to his departure from the kitchen.


	11. Chapter 11

"Alright you two," Hayato announced after he motored up to the entrance of their middle school where other students lingered out in the courtyard before the start of the academic day.

"Thanks again, Gokudera-san." I-Pin graciously thanks the silver haired male before she pulls the handle outward to open the door.

Lambo visibly rolls his eyes while he irritably grumbles underneath his breath, "Yeah…thanks Bakadera."

"Have a good day at school you two," The older man truly wishes for the duo with a small smile on his face and a wave of his right hand.

"I can't believe I fell for his stupid trick." The Bovine teen begrudgingly groaned after he slump his shoulders forward, slid his hands inside of his pants' pockets and hung his head.

His female companion simply leans in closer to his face when she affirms, "You still can't be mad about earlier, Lambo-kun."

"Bakadera's stupidity is rubbing off of on me." The young man was irately proclaiming while ruffling his hands through his curly locks.

His green eyes eventually caught sight of her work uniform neatly folded in her second bag, which led him to ask, "You're working today too?"

"Yep, Yamamoto-san's in the afternoon then Kawahara's in the evening." The Chinese Assassin disclosed her schedule for today.

She then lifts her finger once a thought surfaces to the forefront of her mind before she makes known, "Look at it this way…you don't have to see him until you get home."

"You're right." Lambo agrees to the idea since he has to attend Cram after school today.

Hayato patiently waited until two of the younger Vongola members ventured inside their school when he motored inside of the school's parking lot.

He made sure to grab a suit jacket earlier for this parent-teacher conference about Lambo's sudden decline in his grades.

' _Stupid cow,'_

 **0000**

Yui deliberately travels in the direction of the dungeon in order to greet Spring a "Good Morning" until he runs in to Katsumi.

"Your mother is quite the handful." The blonde openly declares about his mother after he approaches him and wishes him a "Good Morning,"

An expression of confusion surfaces to his face at his friend's statement so he enquiringly poses, "Why? What happened?"

His companion deeply sighs, presses his fingers against his forehead and reveals, "She attempted to seduce me last night."

"What?!" The silver haired male shockingly quips at the news that his mom would try to get in his close friend's pants.

"She even asked me was I virgin or not." Yui included what else occurred between the two yesterday evening.

His sights then narrowed in on his bespectacled buddy before he curiously queried, "Well…are you?"

"It's frankly none of your business, who lies in my bed at night." Yui confidently decrees with his eyes close and faces away from his boss son.

"So what brings you down to this level?" He inquisitively needles about why the young master was in their current position.

The taller of the two merely broke his glance from the blonde and stared down the corridor until his voice broke his concentration, "Let me guess…you're off to see Spring?"

"Is it that obvious?" The silver haired male questions his friend with a rather guilty expression on his face.

"I mean it is since the dungeon is the only thing of importance in this direction." The blonde purposely states the obvious.

"Guilty,"

They pair then ventured down the corridor until they reached a sentry that diligently stood guard at the sole entrance and exit.

At the mere sight of Yui, the guard isn't stepped out of the way and permitted the duo entrance to the slight dark dungeon.

The twosome eventually arrives at a rather empty cell, which prompts the silver haired male to demand, "Where's Spring?"

"She's currently out on a Recess, sir." The sentinel informs them as to why Spring was not currently in her cell.

His sights hone in on the tall burly man and states, " _I_ granted no such thing."

"Yui, where are you going?" Katsumi requests of his friend's next location since he storms out of the dungeon after he receives the news from the safeguard.

"She better not try to escape!"

 **0000**

"Is there something wrong, Kyoko-chan?" Tsuna finally poses to his wife since her facial expression visibly displays that she was deep in thought.

She quietly peers up at her husband only to utter, "Hm?"

"You look like you have something on your mind. Want to talk about it?" He suggests that they should engage in a conversation about her thoughts.

"Well since you granted me an audience…it's about the next date for Haru and I to go on." The orange haired woman reveals what has her in a stupor.

His sights then focus in on the young woman after he folds the newspaper and lays it across his lap. "Can I ask why are you so interested in the brunette?"

"I don't know if you know this or not but I always had a hard time making friends." Kyoko reveals about her inability to make friends.

"Other than Hana, who is an exception because she decided on her own that we were going to be friends."

"There's just something about her…that makes me want to get know who she is." She was attempting to convey her feelings in to words.

"I know it sounds a bit forceful but I feel like we can become really good friends.

"Are you trying to become her guardian angel?" The Vongola boss probes about what continues to push his wife to create this bond with a complete stranger.

The woman physically shakes her head when she makes known, "That not my intention."

"I do want to bust her out of that place but it isn't my place nor in my power to do so." His wife honestly renders about her position in the situation.

"Her and I could have a genuine friendship." The orange haired female confesses her beliefs when she adds, "From what I sensed, she has an honest soul."

Tsuna tensely nods his head forward and pronounces, "Since you feel so strongly about it, I acknowledge your Dying Will."

"You no longer will have to counsel me about any of your future dates with Miura-san." He includes, which earns an expression of shock on her face.

Her husband then firmly decrees his only request, "All I ask is that you keep an escort at all times."

 **0000**

"My name is Riko and I would love it, if you could join me for some tea." The older woman was cordially suggesting for her to partake in some tea while gesturing over to a pagoda.

' _Tea? Haru hasn't had any in a while.'_ Haru inwardly ponders about the invitation before she nods her head forward to confirm her participation.

The silver haired woman, name Riko, guided her over to a circular stone gazebo with Corinthian pillars and a solid dome ceiling overhead.

' _Haru doesn't think she saw her around the main campus or the Geisha House before.'_ Her brunette eyes closely watched as the woman passed her a plate that held a teacup.

The slender female leisurely maneuvers over to the tea kettle, gently grabs it by the handle, and politely pours her guest a cup first.

' _She doesn't look like one of the girls since she's freely roaming around the grounds.'_

' _Which means she could be a familiga member?'_ The brunette inwardly alleged based on the carefree nature the woman naturally exuded from her body.

' _Haru should probably keep her mouth shut.'_ She instantly decided that it would be best if she remained tight lipped around her hostess.

Haru then extends her arms as far as the chains would allow her to grab the handle of her cup and draws it closer to her body.

"I must admit that I'm a bit curious about you, Miura Haru." Riko speaks up once she settles the base of the kettle back on the silver tray.

The brunette was peering down at her tea then to the chains when somberly admitting, "There's nothing really interesting about Haru, ma'am."

"I do concur." The older woman immediately shoots down before she claims, "You managed to land yourself in a pretty nice setting here."

' _Nice…this is far from nice!'_

"So you acquired a rather pretty decent roof over your head…but then again that probably came with a price." She deliberately hints while her index finger loops through the handle once she deems it cool.

The silver haired woman gracefully presses her lower lip against the rim of the cup when she curiously probes, "What's your price, Miura-san?"

The young woman unknowingly hesitates to provide an answer to such a personal question.

"I figured you wouldn't open up to me so soon since I am new around here. How about you tell me more about yourself?" Riko easily changed the topic of their conversation after she sipped from her China.

Her brown eyes brightly light up at the inquiry when she excitingly divulges, "Haru wants to explore the world and touch things with her own hands! She wants to create the designs from her vivid imagination and bring them to life!"

She briefly fell quiet while her confinements shook from sudden movement before she softly murmurs, "Haru wants to fall in love…like a regular woman."

"Fall in love, huh?" The older woman inaudibly whispered to herself when she momentarily gazed over in a specific direction.

"Have you caught anyone's eye say in particular…the heir to the Ricotta Familiga?" Riko alleges once she brings the edge of her teacup to her lips while she watches her guest's reaction closely.

Her hands tightly tensed around the cup as she stared at the brown liquid and quietly suggested, "Haru wishes to change the topic."

' _She really is an interesting one…'_

 **0000**

"It's Spring!" Yui abruptly announced once they circled around to the back portion of the mansion where a large garden separated the Geisha House from the main campus.

Katsumi then glimpses over at his silver haired companion when he pops the question, "Are you sure?"

"I know her scent, posture and body shape from anywhere." He boldly declares the reasons why he was extremely confident that it was Spring.

' _Yeah and you're a total creep for that.'_ The blonde honestly reckons about his friend's previous statement until he spots Miura, Haru along with a silver haired woman.

He pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose when he eventually distinguished the woman's identity.

"It looks like she's with…your _mother_." The shorter of the two verbalized after he clearly noted the two women in the garden underneath the gazebo.

' _Just what is that woman up to?'_

"Spring, Mother," Yui was respectively greeting the two women as he was facing each one when addressing them by their names.

Brown eyes swiftly cut back over to the older woman when she astonishingly ruminated, _'Mother?!'_

A sentry approaches them to dutifully announce "Times up," then promptly retrieves Haru in order to return the prisoner to the dungeon.

"Did you give that order, Mother?" The silver haired male demanded with his back toward her before he spared her a brief intense glare.

A small smile stretches across her face when she positively confirms, "I did."

"I wanted to meet the young lady that has enraptured my son to become a mature man." The older woman honestly disclosed the reason why she granted Spring Recess.

Her son slightly turns his body in her direction when he sternly affirms, "Spring is on a _severe_ punishment for repeated Insubordination."

Riko amusingly chuckled at his attempt to solidify his defense that she was in the wrong for what she did to his precious Spring.

" _Men_ …you try your hardest because you get a thrill out of breaking a strong woman." She coyly lips with a shake of her head at his mindset.

Her head then lifts so that her sights behold his face when she offers up a proposition, "So allow me to provide some relief and be in charge of her disciplinary treatment."

Katsumi simply quirks an eyebrow at the gesture to personally discipline Miura, Haru with her own two hands, which was extremely odd for the woman.

"And why should I do that? Spring is quite precious to me." The silver haired male was speedily refuting the idea of his mother assuming his mantle as Spring's judge, jury and persecution.

"It's exactly those _naïve_ ideals that will blind you to her true intentions, which is the acquirement of her freedom from her debt." Riko gravely alleged that his infatuations will only led him to turn a blind eye to Miura, Haru's true goal.

Yui narrows his sights in on his mother when he tensely jaws, "You already handed the reins of control over to Katsumi's mother when you left. That's a clear violation of Ricotta Famiglia's rules."

An expression of surprise was swiftly materializing on her face once realizing that her son was lecturing her about meddling.

"I never thought I would live to see the day that my own precious son reprimandsed me about the family's rules." She sincerely conveyed her sheer disbelief at the sudden ill turn in their conversation.

Riko frequently exchange looks with her son and his companion when she unwillingly alters her proposal, "How about this…let met at least _counsel_ you on her treatments?"

"Serving as an advisor isn't in violation of the rules...but then again my track record of breaking stubborn woman is no longer proof of my abilities." His mother was adamantly defending being able to serve in a counseling position without directly interfering with his punishment.

"Fine," He ultimately concedes as a means to end this pointless conversation.

Once the duo was out of sight, the silver haired woman displays a maleficent grin on her face.

 **0000**

"Actually Mr. Gokudera, his grades were pretty exceptional at the quarter mark before it suddenly fell off." The young woman, who is Lambo's homeroom teacher, verbalizes while she stares at the curly teen after she shows him his progress reports.

Green eyes got a load of his responsibility off to his right when she firmly asserted, "I assumed that he started to slack off but he never gave any particular reason behind the sudden change."

"Which is why I recommended him for a Cram School," She then explained her reason as to why she enrolled him for additional practices in the afternoon.

"I didn't receive any notifications about the drop in his grade nor this decision to improve his schooling." The silver haired makes known that he was unaware of any paperwork about her decision.

The teacher merely pushes her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose after she speaks, "We sent a message by Lambo-san weeks before…did you not receive it?"

Lambo continously avoided eye contact with his guardian since he was busted, "Apparently, someone _intercepted_ the papers before I could even lay my eyes on it. I will immediately rectify the problem.

Hayato then deeply sighs, crosses his arms in front of him, and comments, "I do agree that it is in his best to have been enrolled. You have my full support for the Cram School."

An expression of disbelief surfaced to his face at the fact that the older male was his last attempt to bail out of his extra lessons.

"Here is my personal contact information if there are any future scenarios such as this, so that I can _personally_ address them with him." The Storm Guardian was firmly remarking while legibly scribbling his cellphone number along with his name and handing it over to the Bovine teen's teacher.

"You have a pretty proactive guardian, Lambo-san. Please do consider yourself lucky." He overhears his sensei claims once Hayato departs from the parent-teacher conference.

' _Stupid Bakadera!'_


	12. Chapter 12

"Alright you two," Hayato announced after he motored up to the entrance of their middle school where other students casually lingered out in the courtyard before the start of the academic day.

"Thanks again, Gokudera-san." I-Pin graciously thanks the silver haired male before she pulls the handle outward to open the door.

Lambo visibly rolls his eyes while he irritably grumbles underneath his breath, "Yeah…thanks Bakadera."

"Have a good day at school you two!" The older man truly wishes for the duo with a small smile on his face and a wave of his right hand.

"I can't believe I fell for his stupid trick." The Bovine teen begrudgingly groaned after he slump his shoulders forward, slid his hands inside of his pants' pockets and hung his head.

His female companion simply leans in closer to his face when she affirms, "You still can't be mad about earlier, Lambo-kun."

"Bakadera's stupidity is rubbing off of on me." The young man was irately proclaiming while ruffling his hands through his curly locks.

His green eyes eventually caught sight of her work uniform neatly folded in her second bag, which led him to ask, "You're working today too?"

"Yep, Yamamoto-san's in the afternoon then Kawahara's in the evening." The Chinese Assassin disclosed her schedule for today.

She then lifts her finger once a thought surfaces to the forefront of her mind before she makes known, "Look at it this way…you don't have to see him until you get home."

"You're right." Lambo agrees to the idea since he has to attend Cram after school today.

Hayato patiently waited until two of the younger Vongola members ventured inside their school when he motored inside of the school's parking lot.

He made sure to grab a suit jacket earlier for this parent-teacher conference about Lambo's sudden decline in his grades.

' _Stupid cow,'_

 **0000**

Yui intentionally travels in the direction of the dungeon in order to greet Spring a "Good Morning" until he runs in to Katsumi.

"Your mother is quite the handful." The blonde openly declares about his mother after he approaches him and wishes him a "Good Morning,"

An expression of confusion surfaces to his face at his friend's state,ment so he enquiringly poses, "Why? What happened?"

His companion deeply sighs, presses his fingers against his forehead and reveals, "She attempted to seduce me last night."

"What?!" The silver haired male shockingly quips at the news that his mom would try to get in his close friend's pants.

"She even asked me if I was a virgin or not." Yui included what else occurred between the two yesterday evening.

His sights then narrowed in on his bespectacled buddy before he curiously queried, "Well…are you?"

"It's frankly none of your business, who lies in my bed at night." Yui confidently decrees with his eyes close and faces away from his boss son.

"So what brings you down to this level?" He inquisitively needles about why the young master was in their current position.

The taller of the two merely broke his glance from the blonde and stared down the corridor until his voice broke his concentration, "Let me guess…you're off to see Spring?"

"Is it that obvious?" The silver haired male questions his friend with a rather guilty expression on his face.

"I mean it is since the dungeon is the only thing of importance in this direction." The blonde purposely states the obvious.

"Guilty,"

The pair then ventured down the corridor until they reached a sentry that diligently stood guard at the sole entrance and exit.

At the mere sight of Yui, the guard instantly stepped out of the way and permitted the duo entrance to the slightly darken dungeon.

The twosome eventually arrives at a rather empty cell, which prompts the silver haired male to demand, "Where's Spring?"

"She's currently out on a Recess, sir." The sentinel informs them as to why Spring was not currently in her cell.

His sights hone in on the tall burly man and states, " _I_ granted no such thing."

"Yui, where are you going?" Katsumi hurriedly requests of his friend's next location since he storms out of the dungeon after he receives the news from the safeguard.

"She better not try to escape _again_!"

 **0000**

"Is there something wrong, Kyoko-chan?" Tsuna finally poses to his wife since her facial expression visibly displays that she was deep in thought.

She quietly peers up at her husband only to utter, "Hm?"

"You look like you have something on your mind. Want to talk about it?" He suggests that they should engage in a conversation about her thoughts.

"Well since you granted me an audience…it's about the next date for Haru and I to go on." The orange haired woman reveals what has her in a stupor.

His sights then focus in on the young woman after he folds the newspaper and lays it across his lap. "Can I ask why are you so interested in the brunette?"

"I don't know if you know this or not, but I always had a hard time making friends." Kyoko reveals about her inability to make friends.

"Other than Hana, who is an exception because she decided on her own that we were going to be friends, I never took the initiative to create one from my own two hands."

"There's just something about her…that makes me want to get know who she is." She was attempting to convey her feelings in to meaningful words.

"I know it sounds a bit forceful but I feel like we can become really good friends."

"Are you trying to become her guardian angel?" The Vongola boss enquiringly probes about what continues to push his wife to create this bond with a complete stranger.

The woman physically shakes her head when she makes known, "That not my intention."

"Although I do want to bust her out of that place, but it isn't my place nor in my power to do so." His wife honestly renders about her position in the situation.

"She and I could possibly have a genuine friendship." The orange haired female confesses her beliefs when she adds, "From what I sensed, she has an honest soul."

Tsuna tensely nods his head forward and pronounces, "Since you feel so strongly about it, I acknowledge your Dying Will."

"You no longer will have to counsel me about any of your future dates with Miura-san." He includes, which earns an expression of shock on her face.

Her husband then firmly decrees his only request, "All I ask is that you keep an escort at all times."

 **0000**

"My name is Riko and I would love it, if you would join me for some tea." The older woman was cordially suggesting for her to partake in some tea while gesturing over to a pagoda.

' _Tea? Haru hasn't had any in a while.'_ Haru inwardly ponders about the invitation before she nods her head forward to confirm her participation.

The silver haired woman, name Riko, guided her over to a circular white Marble stone gazebo with Corinthian pillars and a solid dome ceiling overhead.

' _Haru doesn't think she saw her around the main campus or the Geisha House before.'_ Her brunette eyes closely watched as the woman passed her a plate that held an empty teacup.

The slender female leisurely maneuvers over to the tea kettle, gently grabs it by the handle, and politely pours her guest a cup first.

' _She doesn't look like one of the working girls since she's freely roaming around the grounds with an escort.'_

' _Which means she could be a familiga member?'_ The brunette inwardly alleged based on the carefree nature the woman naturally exuded from her body.

' _Haru should probably keep her mouth shut.'_ She instantly decided that it would be best if she remained tight lipped around her hostess.

Haru then extends her arms as far as the heavy metal chains would allow her to grab the handle of her cup and draws it closer to her body.

"I must admit that I'm a bit curious about you, Miura Haru." Riko speaks up once she settles the base of the kettle back on the silver tray.

The brunette was neverously peering down at the liquid then to the chains before somberly admitting, "There's nothing really interesting about Haru, ma'am."

"I do concur." The older woman immediately shoots down her remarks before she claims, "You managed to land yourself in a pretty nice setting here."

' _Nice…this is far from nice!'_

"So you acquired a rather pretty decent roof over your head…but then again that probably came with a price." She deliberately hints while her index finger loops through the handle once she deems it cool.

The silver haired woman gracefully presses her lower lip against the rim of the cup when she curiously probes, "What's your price, Miura-san?"

The young woman unknowingly hesitates to provide an answer to such a personal question.

"I figured you wouldn't open up to me so soon since I am pretty new around here. How about you tell me more about yourself?" Riko easily changed the topic of their conversation after she sipped from her China.

Her brown eyes brightly light up at the inquiry when she excitingly divulges, "Haru wants to explore the world and touch things with her own hands! She wants to create the designs from her vivid imagination and bring them to life!"

She briefly fell quiet while her confinements shook from the sudden movement before she softly murmurs, "Haru wants to fall in love…like a regular woman."

"Fall in love, huh?" The older woman inaudibly whispered to herself when she momentarily gazed over in a specific direction.

"Have you caught anyone's eye say in particular…the heir to the Ricotta Familiga?" Riko coyly alleges once she brings the edge of her teacup to her lips while she watches her guest's reaction closely.

Her hands tightly tensed around the cup as she stared at the brown liquid and quietly suggested, "Haru wishes to change the topic."

' _She really is an interesting one…'_

 **0000**

"It's Spring!" Yui abruptly announced once they circled around to the back portion of the mansion where a large garden separated the Geisha House from the main campus.

Katsumi then glimpses over at his silver haired companion when he pops the question, "Are you sure?"

"Trust me, I know her scent, posture and body shape from anywhere." He boldly declares the reasons why he was extremely confident that the woman was indeed Spring.

' _Yeah and you're a total creep for that.'_ The blonde honestly reckons about his friend's previous statement until he spots Miura, Haru along with a silver haired woman.

He then pushed his glasses back on to the bridge of his nose when he eventually distinguished the woman's identity.

"It looks like she's with…your _mother_." The shorter of the two shockingly verbalized after he clearly noted the two women in the garden underneath the gazebo.

' _Just what is that woman up to?'_

"Spring, Mother," Yui was respectively greeting the two women as he was facing each one when addressing them by their names.

Brown eyes swiftly cut back over to the older woman when she astonishingly ruminated, _'Mother?!'_

A sentry approaches them to dutifully announce "Times up," then promptly retrieves Haru in order to return the prisoner to the dungeon.

"Did you give that order, _Mother_?!" The silver haired male demanded with his back towards her before he spared her a brief intense glare.

A small smile stretches across her face when she positively confirms, "I did."

"I wanted to meet facd-to-face with the young lady that has encourages my son to become a mature man." The older woman honestly disclosed the reason as to why she granted the brunette Recess.

Her son slightly turns his body in her direction when before he sternly affirms, "Spring is on a _severe_ punishment for repeated Insubordination."

Riko amusingly chuckled at his attempt to solidify his defense that she was in the wrong for what she did to his precious Spring.

" _Men_ …you try your hardest because you get a thrill out of breaking a strong woman's will." She coyly lips along with a shake of her head at his rather childish mindset.

Her head lifts so that her sights behold his face when she offers up a proposition, "So allow me to provide some relief and be in charge of her disciplinary treatment."

Katsumi simply quirks an eyebrow at the sudden gesture to personally discipline Miura, Haru with her own two hands, which was extremely odd for the woman.

"And why should I do that? Spring is rather quite precious to me." The silver haired male was speedily refuting the idea of his mother assuming his mantle as Spring's judge, jury and persecution.

"It's exactly those _naïve_ ideals that will blind you to her true intentions, which is the acquirement of her freedom from her debt." Riko gravely alleged that his infatuations will only led him to turn a blind eye to Miura, Haru's true goal.

Yui narrows his sights in on his mother when he tensely jaws, "You already handed the reins of control over to Katsumi's mother ever since you left the family. That's a clear violation of Ricotta Famiglia's rules."

An expression of surprise was swiftly materializing on her face once realizing that her son was lecturing her about meddling.

"I never thought I would live to see the day that my own precious son reprimanded me about the family's rules." She sincerely conveyed her sheer disbelief at the sudden ill turn in their conversation.

Riko frequently exchange looks with her son and his companion before she unwillingly alters her proposal, "How about this…let me at least _counsel_ you on her treatments?"

"Serving as an advisor isn't in violation of the rules...but then again my perfect track record of breaking stubborn women is no longer physical proof of my abilities." His mother was adamantly defending being able to serve in a counseling position without directly interfering with his choices of punishment.

"Fine," He ultimately conceded as a means to end this pointless conversation.

Once the duo was out of sight, the silver haired woman displays a maleficent grin on her face.

 **0000**

"Actually Mr. Gokudera, his grades were pretty exceptional at the quarter mark but then it suddenly fell off." The young woman, who is Lambo's homeroom teacher, verbalizes while she stares at the curly haired teen after she shows him his progress reports.

Green eyes got a load of his responsibility off to his right when she firmly asserted, "I assumed that he started to slack off because of extra curricular activities but he never gave any particular reason behind the sudden change."

"Which is why I recommended him for a nearby Cram School," She then explains her reason as to why she enrolls him for additional practices in the afternoon.

"I didn't receive any notifications about the drop in his grade nor this decision to improve his schooling." The silver haired male makes known that he was completely unaware of any paperwork about her decision.

The teacher merely pushes her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose after she speaks, "We sent a few messages by Lambo-san weeks before…did you not receive any of it?"

Lambo continously avoided eye contact with his guardian since he was busted, "Apparently, someone _intercepted_ the papers before I could even lay my eyes on it. I will immediately rectify the problem.

Hayato then deeply sighs, crosses his arms in front of him, and comments, "I do agree that it is in his best to have been enrolled. You have my full support for the Cram School."

An expression of disbelief surfaced to his face at the fact that the older male was his last attempt to bail out of his extra lessons.

"Here is my personal contact information if there are any future scenarios such as this, so that I can _personally_ address them with him." The Storm Guardian was firmly remarking while legibly scribbling his cellphone number along with his name and handing it over to the Bovine teen's homeroom teacher.

"You have a pretty proactive guardian, Lambo-san. Please do consider yourself lucky." He overhears his sensei claims once Hayato departs from the parent-teacher conference.

' _Stupid Bakadera!'_


	13. Chapter 13

" _Brring_ " " _Brring_ " suddenly echoes throughout the office space as a servant patiently waits until the third ring to pick the phone up.

"Ricotta Famiglia," A baritone voice addressed the caller on the other end with the name of the family.

"Hello…" The voice speaks up once someone finally picks up the line so they introduce themselves as, "My name is Sawada Kyoko, the wife of Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Decimo of the Vongola Famiglia.

An expression of realization dawns on the servant at the identity of the receiver before he politely requests, "One second, miss."

He swiftly approaches the older man while he dutifully addresses him as, "Boss…"

The elderly man eventually acknowledges the young man with a question, "What is it?"

"The Decimo's wife is on the line." The servant informs his boss about the caller's identity, which prompts him to assume, _'It must be the Vongola woman.'_

"Patch her through to a secure line." He voices while he flicks the ashes of his Cuban cigar inside of a metallic silver tray.

One of his trusted men eventually handed him a cell phone and flashed him a thumbs up to signal that the line is all secure.

"What a fine afternoon for a chat…Mrs. Sawada." The Ricotta Famiglia boss politely greets the young woman on the other line.

"I was calling in regards of your services." She immediately reveals the reason why she places the call to his family.

His eyebrows lift at her statement, which prompts his surprise response of, "Oh…you're calling for _my_ services?"

"You are quite the mysterious woman." The male genuinely issues the woman a compliment while he leans against the body of his office chair.

He then puffs a thick cloud of smoke when he inquisitively probes, "Do you have a girl in particular that you would like?"

"I would like to request Miura Haru if she's available." Kyoko reveals the name of the girl that she would like to "rent" from the Ricotta Famiglia harem of women.

Her response earns a smirk across his face while he audibly repeats the name, "Miura Haru, huh?"

"So you like the rambunctious, spontaneous yet stubborn woman." The elderly man coyly teased her particular taste in woman for such a sophisticated woman such as herself.

"Duly noted," He mutters more to himself than to the caller as he removes the cigar from against his lips.

"I shall notify the handlers of your plans and have her thoroughly prepared for you." The Ricotta boss positively assured her that all of her demands will be easily met.

"It's my pleasure. And have a pleasant evening as well," He eagerly proclaims before he signals for the servant to relight his cigar and ends the call with a smirk on his face.

The older man reaches out for a ballpoint pen, eloquently scribbles a message in cursive writing, and hands it over to the servant.

"Relay this message onto Katsumi." He immediately orders him prior to their assertion, "Yes boss."

 _ **At the same time…**_

Kyoko finally returns the phone back on the base after the male wishes her to have a "Pleasant evening," when a loud " _thump_ " swiftly catches her attention.

She beheld the silver haired male fist connected to the sturdy wall, which causes her to fretfully wonder, "Are you alright, Gokudera-kun?"

"That bastard and his kind really grind my gears!" He irritably grumbles under his breath as the brief shock to his nerves swiftly wears off.

The Mafioso drops his hand to his side and vehemently declares, "He's a fucking sick as bastard!"

He then vividly recalled the deep purple bruises that sprinkled the stupid woman's arms, which she desperately attempted to cover with long sleeve clothing.

"I feel the same way…." The orange haired female softly utters her breath as she cuts her eyes away from her friend.

One of her hands tightly ball in to a fist when she discloses, "Tsu-kun warned me not to become her guardian angel, but I…"

The young woman unintentionally halts in the middle of her sentence as she frantically tries to collect her thoughts, "But I felt so helpless when she was roughly handled to the ground by her escort."

"How can we, as human beings, treat others as mere mud on our shoes?" His boss wife's gloomily queries to no one in particular.

The Storm guardian slowly gathers his composure prior to his response to the question, "That's why the Mafia world isn't meant for _pure-_ hearted people."

"They'll soon discover that they too have a darkness that dwells inside of them as well." He solemnly concludes about how the Mafia world can even taint the purest of souls.

"Ugh," The Mafioso loudly grumbles as he combs his fingers through his silver tresses out of frustration.

The sudden urge to calm his nervous swiftly surfaces and continuously urges for him to grab the carton in his pocket as an immediate stress reliever. "I need a smoke… _bad_."

Kyoko merely watches as the silver haired male departs from within her presence all while his words linger in her thoughts. _'Gokudera-kun has a point.'_

' _This world brings out an uglier sider of you."_

0000

' _Stupid Bakadera!'_ Lambo mentally shouts as his facial expression contorts to visually display his irritation towards one person in particular.

He quickly veers a corner in the main building with his homeroom as his destination in mind when he suddenly wonders, _'How did he even know about the meeting?'_

The hallway eventually filled with students in transition to their first period class until the sight of a brunette with a low ponytail catches his sights. ' _Bingo!'_

The Bovine teen casually approached the young teen, roughly slams his hand on the locker next to her and grunts, "Stay out of my business."

"You should really practice Omerta a bit more… _assassin_." Lambo sternly asserts right before he storms off with his hands stuff inside of his pockets.

He irritably grumbles under his breath at his stroke of misfortune.

0000

"Back in this hell hole, huh?" Haru was directing her question to the burly towing figure that was currently guiding her through the darken dungeon with a bright lantern.

The sentry merely ignored her question as they approached her designated cell block and roughly slammed the bars back in to place once she stepped across the threshold.

He quietly retreated back to his post, which prompted the brunette to think, _'At least Haru knows it is afternoon, which means the doors to the Geisha house are open to receive guests.'_

She tiredly slumped down in a familiar corner where she noticed that the stream of water from earlier evaporated in to thin air.

' _Yet, Haru still wonders who that strange woman was?'_

The young woman easily deduced a couple fact about the woman, _'Who else could've convinced the bag of bones to release Haru in the care of someone other than his stupid precious son? Unless, she's a high ranking member in the family.'_

 _'Now that Haru thinks about it…her hair is the exact same color as Yui and that idiot from the park.'_ Her brain soon painfully throbbed from being overly stimulated with all of her speculations.

' _Haru's head hurts!'_ The brunette was physically wincing from the excruciating pain occurring in between her shoulders.

She then gently cradles her head within her hands when she inwardly assumes, _'Maybe, I'll find out later.'_

Unbeknown to her, there were footsteps that lightly echoed against the stone.

0000

Hayato gently pats his innermost jacket pocket, removes a greenish white carton from the pouch, and repeatedly shakes it until a cigarette stick finally pops outward from the slot.

He then brings it to his lips, returns the white box to its rightful place, and searches his body for his lighter.

"Still chain smoking, I see." A familiar feminine voice suddenly rings his ears as he continuously flicks the silver latch in order to produce a miniature flame to light the cig.

The silver haired male rapidly puffs out three clouds of smoke before he finally deems the tobacco stick sufficiently lit.

"Sasagawa-san...made a friend from the Ricotta Famiglia." The young Mafioso reveals to the woman once he deliberately shifts the cigarette to the corner of his mouth, which makes it easier to converse.

The older woman comfortably settles in next to him as she stands a little ways off to the side with her left shoulder against one of wooden pillars that support the roof.

"It's not _that_ shocking to believe, you know." She honestly stated with her eyes closed and a small smile present on her face.

A breeze gently blows her long tresses in front of her face to the point she tucks a few strands behind her ear in order to speak, "We cold souls can't help but gravitate towards genuine warmth."

"It's what keeps us _humane_." The older woman genuinely claims with an emphasis on the last word in her sentence.

She then directs her sights on to the Maifoso, who casually rests his back against the wall then takes a long drag of his cig.

"Are you escorting Kyoko-chan again?" The female inquisitively poses once her hair finally falls back to her shoulders due to the natural forces of gravity.

Hayato merely removes the stick, flicks the old ashes in to the air toward the ground and provides a response, "Not this time,"

"It's the baseball freak's turn." He specifically reveals which one of the five 10th generation guardians would assume the task to escort Kyoko on her next outing.

A chuckle emits from the woman in front of him when she jokingly discloses, "You're still calling him baseball freak, huh?"

The shorter of the two releases a sigh, diverts their eyes to the sky, and cheerfully pronounces, "I guess...I gotta thank the heavens for my stroke of good fortune then,"

"And why might that be?" The Storm guardian inquisitively wonders aloud once he blows a thick cloud of smoke only to watch it swiftly dissipate in the breeze.

"Let's go out on a date then." She promptly suggests once she peeks over her right shoulder at the young man on the wall.

A pregnant silence developed between the two as Hayato deeply inhaled the tar in the cigarette while he ponders over his decision.

"I don't think the word _date_ is appropriate for a brother and sister." The young man vocally speaks up once he physically pushes off of the wall and now stands shoulder width apart behind her.

He then twists the lit stick against the wooden pole in order to stub it out as he includes, "Besides, that doesn't sound too bad actually."

"Hm," The purple haired woman softly mutters to herself after she hears his confirmation that there was indeed a break in his rather busy schedule at the same time as hers.

A small smile materializes on her face at her brother's change of character, especially in the last three years. "You just might've finally matured from that craze teenage phase."

Another brief silence washes over the two before Hayato breaks his silence again in order to agree with her statement. "I might have."

"Shall we then?"


	14. Chapter 14

The sound of a key turning to unlock the age old lock was capturing the brunette's ears as her body was wearily perking up at the sound.

"Miura-san, you've been released on grounds of an important appointment." Katsumi's voice rings in her ears once her sights focus in on her freer.

' _Kyoko-chan,_ ' She instantly assumed that it was the orange haired woman, who unknowingly saved her from the Ricotta Famiglia hell hole.

"We don't have all day to get you ready for tomorrow so I would advise you to cooperate." The blonde sternly demands once he closes the heavy bars behind her.

' _Haru can't wait to hang out with Kyoko again.'_ Haru excitingly awaits until the sight of Kyoko's silver haired escort pops to her mind. _'Haru hope the wet blanket's not coming too.'_

An " _ahem_ " emits from her guide, which swiftly breaks her out of her thoughts about tomorrow.

In a rare show of politeness to a family member, she offers a sincere apology for her behavior.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

Hayato lifts an index finger underneath his nostrils to prevent a sneeze while he refocuses on the fancy script on the glossy menu.

"How'd you even hear about this place?" He curiously poses to the woman across the way with reflexive glasses due to his trauma.

"A casual date suggested this place." Bianchi mysteriously answers before their waiter arrive to take their orders.

She then stares at her little brother's face when she inquistively queries, "So have you started to get out a bit more?"

"If by getting out you mean _dating_ …I don't have time for that." The silver haired male grumbled with a slight roll of his eyes at the topic of their conversation.

The violet haired woman audibly sights at the vision when she teasingly quips, "And here I thought I'd have a pretty niece or handsome nephew to spoil by now."

The Mafioso emits a " _humph_ " and leans against the body of the chair and easily counters, "If anything I should make the demand from you."

"I wouldn't be able to properly raise them as I wanted too. Not to mention, they'll hardly ever see me for long periods of times." She elucidates in a somber tone while she tilts her cheek against the palm of her hand.

"I see." The young man uttered since her job often required extended hours and far off locations.

"I can't make any promises but I can try." The silver haired male partially cedes to the request of his half-sister.

The sibling duo delighted in the cuisine along with mild conversation about what they have been doing these past few months.

 _ **The next day…**_

"Did Gokudera-san inform you about the situation at hand?" Kyoko inquisitively wonders once she clicks the seatbelt safely across her chest.

"More or less…he probably thought I wasn't listening though." The brunette honestly regarded about his behavior during his chat with his fellow guardian.

The orange haired woman turned to reassure her friend, "I'm more than certain he thoroughly explained everything."

The Rain Guardian merely nods his head right before they depart from the Vongola's headquarters.

[ **RICOTTA FAMIGLIA** ]

"Did you get all of that Miura-san?" Katsumi gives the third degree as he faces the brunette, who appears attentive. Yet, on a closer inspection, she was blissfully unaware of the conversation at hand.

A sigh along with a mutter of "typical" slips form his mouth.

The blonde simply overlooks her ignorance, just for today, before he finally sends her on her way.

"So...Miura-san is already reserved for the day?" A feminine voice nosily asks while he adjusts his glasses before he greets Yui's mother.

"You're up mighty early."

A smirk materializes on her face when she dutifully recites, "The early bird catches the worm."

"Speaking of worms, does Yui know about his precious Spring leaving the grounds without his permission?" She enquiringly needles as she waits for the young man's response.

A " _huff_ " emits from him before he chides, "That's a bit hypocritical coming from a former madam, especially of this famiglia's reputation."

"She's just like every girl here with a substantial amount of debt owed to the famiglia that is going to be paid off, regardless of any affiliations with family members." Katsumi dutifully spiels as a reminder that Miura was just like any other girl in the Geisha House.

"I see you've grown some balls since my absence if you have the nerve to scold me as if I was an impish child." Riko calmly lips as she narrows her sights in on the blonde male.

However, a smile stretches across her face before she genuinely compliments him, "Yet, well spoke like a handler's boss."

"I did learn from the best." The blonde affirms after he peers over his shoulder at the older woman.

' _And I'll make sure to get you back for that you, cheeky brat.'_

Realization soon dawned upon her, as her smirk morphs to a toothy grin at the recollection of their conversation.

[ **VONGOLA HQ** ]

"How are the schematics I sent earlier holding up?" Hayato directs to the head of all Vongola developed weaponry.

The round man merely rotates to face him with a response, "Spanner's been on it ever since you brought the files over."

His green eyes scope out the area before he wonders aloud about his box weapon, "How's Uri holding up?"

"You might need this." Giovanni honestly suggests to him as he hands him a welder's mask from his desk.

"That bad, huh?" The silver haired male mutters, which earns a stern nod from the inventor.

The Mafioso audibly chuckles, slides the mask over his face when he inwardly ruminates, _'I probably should've went with Sasagawa-san and that stupid woman.'_

Giovanni mentally counts down from five before he rotates toward the door. Sure enough, the Storm Leopard deliberately greeted its master with a face full of claws.

He could make out an annoyed shriek that clearly emitted from the 10th Storm Guardian.

' _Told him s,'_ The mechanic mentally declares with a shrug of his shoulders before his focus returns to the project in front of him.

[ **A local bakery shop** ]

"Ah, Haru-chan!" Kyoko immediately calls out to the brunette once she, along with her escort, finally enters inside of the shop.

She was modestly dressed in a navy blue mid-thigh dress with spaghetti straps, a long sleeve black crew neck shirt and strappy ankle length leather black Gladiator sandals. A thin navy blue headband sits on top of her head.

Her eyes widen at the sight of the orange haired woman in a mustard yellow dress with a thin orange belt around her waist with a knitted cardigan to keep her arms warm.

"Kyoko-chan!" The brunette was eagerly greeting her friend with an embrace when something out of the ordinary was presciently nagging at her thoughts.

Chocolate brown orbs stealthily sweep the bakery as well as the other patrons when she curiously poses, "Uhm…where's your escort?"

It took a few seconds for the Vongola woman to process the question before she clarifies, "Oh, you mean Gokudera-san?"

"He was assigned to another mission so..." She eventually reveals the location of the silver haired male, which earns, "Bakadera isn't here. Good."

"Bakadera?" A masculine voice suddenly captures their attention when a tall lanky raven haired male with a scar on his chin and brown eyes graces her line of vision.

He then hands Kyoko a slip of paper when he merrily verbalizes, "And I thought Lambo was the only one to call him that."

"Haru…this is Yamamoto, Takeshi," The orange haired woman cordially introduces her escort to her friend, who seems deep in thought.

Her facial expression shifts from serene to awe once she finally comes out with "No way!".

"You're like the top Japanese baseball player to go pro." She astonishingly voices as she points an index finger in his direction.

He simply brings one of his hands to the nape of his neck, tilts his head, chuckles briefly and confesses, "Well yeah,"

"Our boss used to watch you on T.V. a lot! You are a must known topic amongst our customers." The brunette revealed to the pair exactly where she heard his name from.

' _Customers?'_ He repeats that one word as he inwardly ponders about her potential job occupation, but instead he voices, "I see."

The group eventually ventured over to their assigned table where a few menus await for them to read.

"So...which slice of cake would you like Haru?" Kyoko curiously inquiries about what specific flavor did she want to eat.

A dark cloud suddenly hangs over her date's hand when she solemnly expressed, "Haru doesn't have any money."

"You don't have to worry about that…it's my treat." The orange haired woman speaks up as she waves off the idea of Haru being without proper funds.

The slightly taller of the two picks her head up and instantly comments, "Haru couldn't accept" as her facial expression remains stoic.

Takeshi merely smirks, leans forward with his hand on the side of his mouth in order to discernably whisper, "It may not seem like it _but_ she has a pretty stubborn streak too."

"If you say so…" Haru eventually cedes to the offer before she scoops up the plastic and scans her options until her eyes land on one.

"Haru wants this one." She announces to her date while she rotates it to point at the bold print on the menu.

"Chocolate Cake," The two read all while the brunette eagerly nods her head before she further expounds, "Haru loves sweets but chocolate is her favorite!"

' _Are those bruises from shackles?'_ He inwardly contemplates since she extends her arms out further than the length of the cloth and slightly exposes her wrists.

"Uhm, excuse me Yamamoto-san," Haru nervously comes out with before he politely corrects her with, "Takeshi-san is fine."

"Takeshi-san," She unknowingly stammered over his name since it was rare for her to communicate with the opposite sex due to Yui's overprotectiveness.

The brunette male acknowledges her with a nod and a "yes" prior to her request, "Could you pass Haru that platter over there?"

Takeshi hands her the small dish when her sleeves recedes even further to reveal fresh bruises that were dark red. _'Those look…fresh.'_

As he motioned to point out the marks, he caught a glimpse of Kyoko who slyly shook her head "no".

Heeding to the wishes of the woman, he falls back to his inner thoughts.

 _ **An hour later…**_

The two friends were rudely interrupted by Haru's guard, who sternly announced, "Times up. Let's go."

"One second, please?" Kyoko to some extent pleads for a few more seconds as she signals for a maid to approach them.

"Here you go Haru." She then hands over a to-go slice of Chocolate Cake when she notices that tears begin to well in her eyes at the kind gesture.

"Thank you, Kyoko-chan," Haru cordially thanks her friend once she finds her voice after she stifles a couple of sniffles.

The orange haired woman shakes her head, grabs her hand to place on top of the carry out and sincerely remarks, "No, thank you. Besides, you deserve it."

Takeshi shows he is in agreement with a "mhm," along with a small smile across his face.

She nods her head while she fights back the tears to mention, "Haru thinks you're much nicer than the other man, Takeshi-san."

"It was nice to meet you too Haru-san." The raven haired male politely conveys with a bow at the waist right before the woman exits from the shop.

Brown eyes divert from the glass door to his boss' wife when he inquisitively needles, "Did you know about those bruises?"

"Unfortunately, yes," She gravely confirms that she is knowledgeable about the abrasions that presently decorate her body.

In a rare show of anger, he irately jaws, "Those were fresh! And it looked like she was tightly shackled too."

"Is that the reason why Gokudera-san said _"I'll be sick to my stomach once I see it for myself."_?" Takeshi vividly recalled that one line from his conversation with his fellow guardian.

The orange haired woman could only nod her head as she pays for the tab.

"There are some sick bastards in the Ricotta Famiglia." He ultimately surmises about the people in that particular family.

[ **RICOTTA FAMIGLIA GROUNDS** ]

A knock went unheard as Yui scribbled his signature on a piece of parchment when the door pushes forward and a head peaks through the crack.

"Hard at work or hardly working?" A familiar feminine voice unexpectedly breaks him out of his concentration when he casts his sights toward the door.

" _Mom_? Where's you escort?" He inquisitively questioned since she was presently in his private study unoccupied by her attendant.

The woman physically waves off the questions before she boldly declares, "Oh _puh_ -lease, I come and go as I please."

She then took note at the amount of paperwork currently on his desk when she posed, "Am I interrupting?"

"Why would you think that?" The silver haired male confusingly retorts once he stands to his feet to properly converse with his mother.

The older woman peered around the study again only to make known, "I thought…Spring was here since she wasn't in the dungeon."

"Wait, what?!" Yui startlingly screeches at the news, which prompts her to fill him in on the details. "The sentry said she was requested by someone so I assumed that she was here."

"So they took Spring from the grounds?" He was giving her the third degree since no one was informing him about Spring's departure.

Riko inwardly shakes her head at how dense her son has become under her husband's care, "How else do you think I broke away from my escort, Katsumi?"

"He was with her once the guard brought her to him this afternoon." She stated the obvious to her rather ignorant child.

"How long have you been working?" The silver haired woman curiously probes once she beholds two stacks of papers and a few across the surface of the desk. "Since this morning,"

"But...are you always this busy though?" She further queries in order for him to connect the last few dots together about Spring's specific time of departure.

He briefly ponders about the answer before he provides a response, "Only on certain days…"

"When Spring is gone, right?" The older of the two deliberately hints at the actual reason behind his abrupt busy days.

The young man tightly clenches his fists until they shake as he furiously hisses, "That old prick!"

"Listen," His mother's voice captures his attention so she can offer up a suggestion, "the next time you have a load like this, I'll help so you can personally escort Spring and stay abreast of her whereabouts."

"Like they say…mother knows best." Riko coyly recites.


	15. Chapter 15

Lambo was halfheartedly listening to his teacher verbally reciting lines in clear English from some famous renowned Elizabethan playwright.

' _Why am I even here?!'_ He inwardly grumbles to himself as he aimlessly doodles across the multi-lined notebook paper with his pencil.

' _Why can't I just drop out and be a full time hitman?'_ The Bovine teen inwardly contemplates about his potential career choices other than being a student.

His eyes then briefly peer up from his portrait and rove about until he spots a familiar face amongst his peers.

The Chinese assassin was animatedly jotting down notes, which she will be more than willingly to let him see later on.

The young man definitely took notice of the young girl once they entered high school but he was not the only one either.

Surprisingly, I-Pin managed to easily obtain the coveted status of popularity just by being herself. On the other hand, he was dubbed a _socially weird awkward_ that was coined due to a horrible failure of a confession.

The school bell rung as it signaled the end of their school day.

"Review this sonnet and roughly transcribe it." Their English Literature teacher issues out their assignment along with a " _pop_ " of the book when it closes.

The curly teen speedily departed from the class since his brain was tuckered out for the day.

"I shoulda known," slips from his lips at the sight of his fellow famiglia member that presently stands in front of his locker.

The brunette girl instantly hands him a dark red notebook with " _Eng. Lit_ " on the cover while she knowingly claims, "I figured you might need to borrow this."

"Double?" The young man inquisitively enquired after he noticed a neatly folded white apron against her forearm.

She simply closes the flap of her bag before she replies, "Nope, just the dinner shift."

"You ready?" I-Pin then poses after Lambo opens his locker door to toss his textbooks in, except for his homework and her notebook.

He begrudgingly nods his head as he inwardly grumbles, _'Ugh,'_

 **8888**

"Come in," The aged male shouted as a butler opened the door.

In walked the very young man that will soon inherit the famiglia from his father and so forth until the very creation of the Ricotta Famiglia.

"I do hope this paperwork is in order." He was greeting him only to hear a " _pow_ " from the papers colliding against the stained Oak desk.

This earned a rather pointed glare from the older male, who in turned questioned, "Is there a problem?"

"Why is Spring not in the dungeon serving out her punishment for Insubordination?" Yui sternly demands with his arms in front of his chest.

"As any working girl here, she has a debt to repay." He calmly explains as he reaches for a wooden box that graces the surface of his desk.

The silver haired male was watching him removing a cigar from within the container and listening to his son's complaint, "I know that but then I have a right to know where she is at all time."

"Only I and the Madam are privy to that information." The older man was reminding him while checking the ends of it and signaling for one of his servants.

His son raises an eyebrow at that statement when he irritably needles, "Are you really talking to me about _protocol_?"

"I'm reminding you of your position." He remarked after he repeatedly yet lightly puffed on the lit cigar for a few seconds then took a long drag.

"Spring is under my charge." Yui runs by his father again exactly where the young woman belongs in the household.

The elderly man deeply sighs, briefly shakes his head, and softly murmurs, "Didn't I tell you not to mix business with pleasure."

"You sound as if you want to _own_ her." He bluntly presumed based off the tone and aggressive stance he took whenever the Miura girl was involved.

The silver haired male softly " _tsk_ " his tongue at the nerve of his father before he reminds him, "If I recall your infamous tales, you owned your own harem before you even married mom."

The Ricotta boss puffs some small distinct "o" in the sky, sighs once again, and counters, "That was in my much younger and wild days."

"I want her as my wife." Yui boldly declared with a rather serious expression on his face, which earns an, " _Oh_?"

"But not until her debt's paid off." He added in since he knew that was probably the major reason as to why his father constantly rejected the idea.

An expression of thought was materializing on his face at the idea of the two being together. _'It could potentially solidify our position with the Vongola.'_

"I'll think about it." His father was agreeing to at least sparing a few thoughts about the idea of a potential courtship.

He then crushes the lit cigar against the ash tray when he makes known, "And as a show of my thoughtfulness, the car is arriving shortly in the main driveway."

' _A wedding, huh?'_

 **8888**

Bianchi brushes then tucks a stray strand of her dark violet hair behind one of her ears once they finally reach the lobby of the restaurant.

"We should definitely do this sibling date again, hm?" She directs her inquiry to her only brother with a small smile on her face.

"Hm, oh yeah?" Hayato unknowingly hesitates with his answer to his sister's question.

His slip up caused her to instantly perk up at the unplanned slight pause in his response, which prompted her to question, "Who is it this time?"

" _What_?!" The silver haired male irritably snaps since she quickly closes the distance between the two.

Bianchi physically raises an eyebrow at her sibling's nonchalant demeanor when she sternly retorts, "Don't play coy with me, Romeo!"

"I'm not your ex, remember." He annoyingly counters along with a roll of his eyes as he slips his hands inside of his pockets.

She was thrn repeatedly yet gently patting his back with her left hand when calmly claiming, "It's an adage."

"Besides, you're never this caught off-guard unless it is a woman." The violet haired female enlightens him about the reason why she currently questions his behavior.

He simply exhales a deep breath before he speaks up, "Kyoko,"

At the sound of their boss wife name, Bianchi immediately jumped in the middle of his sentence, " _What_?! Not your precious Juudaime beloved!"

She then proceeds to go on a tangent, "Oh my gosh! This is like Camelot where Guinevere is stuck between two lovers: the King Arthur and his loyal knight Lancelot."

"Shut up for a second wills you!" Hayato slightly raises his voice since the older woman did not allow him to finish his thoughts. "You need to ease up on the Medieval melodrama."

"Kyoko-san made a friend from the Inheritance Ceremony." He starts of as he removes his hands from his pockets to rub his temples.

An image surfaces to the forefront of her mind before she questions, "Are you talking about that brunette girl you were glaring holes in? I thought you was going to stare so many holes in her that she would become Swiss cheese?"

"Well she's a part of the Ricotta Familga." The silver haired male includes once the headache starts to subside.

"The ones that deal with trafficking girls?" She recalls as she places her index finger on the surface of her chin.

The taller of the two then directs his sights on to the valet, who in turn removes a set of keys from underneath the podium.

"She's a part of them. They probably think they've curried some favor since they willingly permitted Kyoko to hang out with that stupid woman." He expressed his genuine opinion about the situation along with a shake of his fist.

' _A personal_ _n_ _ickname?'_ Bianchi privately thinks along with a small smile on her face but instead she vocalizes, "I see, we definitely don't want them to capitalize off this precious friendship."

 **4444**

Haru happily emerged from the tinted vehicle with a wide smile across her face as she gently cradled the sweet memento close to her chest.

' _I….'_ The abrupt sight of the blonde male with glasses in the walkway prompts her smile to fall from her face. "Welcome back, Miura-san,"

A barely audible "thanks" slips from her lips as she hesitantly stares him directly in the face.

"Welcome back, Spring," A familiar voice was calling from behind Katsumi as her body was instinctively tensing up because she was concealing the slice of cake from their eyes.

The shorter male simply glanced over at his boss son's direction with a slightly confused yet composed expression present on his face.

' _Who told him about her arrival time?'_ He inwardly poses the million dollar question at the sudden presence of Yui.

The silver haired male casually approaches the lone women and plays with a loose strand of her brown hair.

"I've missed you today. Where are you coming from?" The taller of the two curiously poses while he tucks the strand behind her right ear.

The lone woman amongst the group opts to remain silent until she overhears, " _Oh_ …what do we have here?"

He simply peeks over her shoulder only to find a slice of cake presently behind her back. So he extends one of his arms around her waist and secures the object.

The young man then pops open the lid of the carry out tray, which immediately earns a shout of, "That's _mine_!"

His sights merely narrowed in on the girl who just surprisingly raised her voice at him. So he addressed her in a solemn tone, "What's yours is mine, right?"

The next heir to the Ricotta releases the lid, breaks off and tastes a piece of the cake only to loudly exclaim, "This is far too sweet!"

Yui then extends the open container toward his blonde friend and suggests, "Try some Kats,"

"No thank you. I'm not a sweets person." He politely declines the offer with a shake of his head "no" as he lifts the palm of his hand in his direction.

The next in line repeatedly offers everyone else that was around a potential taste of the sweet treat, "Anyone else?"

"Oh well," The young man dramatically uttered as he purposely dropped it on the floor directly in front of her face since no one else wanted some.

His tone then drops to another octave when he sternly reprimands her, "You only accept gifts from _me_."

"Take her to the dungeon." The silver haired male was ordering the guards while turning around to face the main entrance of the mansion.

He proceeds on ahead as two men roughly manhandles Haru by her arms in order to physically drag her to the lower dungeons.

A shadowy figure, who stood from above, cheerfully smirks at the sight in front of them before they proudly utter, "That's my boy."

 **4444**

"You seem a bit pale, are you alright?" Tsuna anxiously poses at the moment his wife enters in his private study and within his sights.

"I'm fine. We just got back from the bakery." She answers while she digs inside of her tote, removes a plastic carton and hands him a tart.

He graciously accepted the kind gesture when he initially presumed, "I take it didn't go as plan?"

"Actually, it did." Kyoko positively replies once she settles in one of the two seats that were in front of his desk.

Her brown eyes briefly glance at the piles of paper on his desk when she makes known, "It just the head of the Ricotta gives me the absolute creeps."

"He's a perverted man that manipulates girls in to serving him." The orange haired woman honestly regarded about the older man from her few but brief encounters with him.

Her husband sits forward with a rather serious expression on his face when he sincerely expresses, "Which is why I want you to be careful with this friendship, I don't want to see you hurt."

"Haru's a good girl. She'll tell me if something's wrong." Kyoko genuinely conveys positive words about the young woman.

He then raises an eyebrow at his wife's statement when he gives her the third degree, "So you completely trust her honesty?"

"100%... _but_ I am concerned about Yamamato-san." The young woman redirected their conversation to a topic that has her slightly concerned.

An expression of "why" surfaces to his face as he straights up a few stray pieces of papers that somehow manage to escape the neatly stack pile.

"Gokudera-san couldn't be there so he asked him to be his sub and I think he saw something on Haru's body." She explains the reason why it was Takashi and not Hayato there at the date.

"He is sensitive too others emotions." The young man agrees about his Rain Guardian's natural ability to empathize with others.

Kyoto nods her head forward before she suddenly recalls something else from her memory, "By the way, did you see the flyer of a local festival at the end of this week? I think we should attend."

"I'll think about it."

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

Takeshi was brewing a fresh kettle of hot tea when Hayato was entering in the kitchen and lazily plopping down in one of the round metallic bar stools.

The brunette male carefully fills up two cups with tea after he removes the metallic appliance from over the lit stove top.

"Here you go," The taller of the two then hands over one of two cups, which his companion cordially accepts with a small nod of his head.

Hayato intentionally allows the hot liquid to give off a stream of steam first before he abruptly halts in the middle of a sip to demand, "Spill." "Hm?!"

"You look like something is bothering you, so talk." The silver haired male openly points out after he finally drinks from the ceramic cup.

He was gently rubbing the nape of his neck with one of his hands as his eyes glance toward the floor when admitting, "I saw them."

It did not take too long for what the " _them"_ was to register in the seated man's mind, "The bruises? I told you, you would see some."

"Yeah, except those look fresh." The Rain Guardian speaks up with a slight pain in his tone once he drops his hand in front of his torso.

The other young man almost spitted the liquid that was in his mouth out but instead he managed to gulp it down and shrieked, "What?!"

' _So they added on more since the last time I saw that stupid woman at the park?!'_

"They looked like she was tightly shackled then roughly yanked on." Takeshi was including with one of his hands now in a fist and the other was pointing at his wrist.

The Storm Guardian could only shake his head at the sheer audacity of the Ricotta to even send the girl out with fresh markings on her skin. "Well, what did you expect?"

"Their calling is Human Trafficking." He was informing the male, who was maintaining a standing position during their conversation.

Takeshi then takes his fist, slams it on the surface of the island to gripe, "And the Council just let them do it?! I thought that was frowned upon in the Mafia world."

"Frowned upon yet ignored." The silver haired male was illuminating his friend about the truly shadowy ways of their governing body.

"That's too bad. She seems like such a sweet girl too." The brunette highly regards about the woman's personality begins he sips from the cup.

A " _ha_ " escapes from his mouth when he enquiringly needles, "You found that weird stupid woman… _sweet_?"

"Now I think you really took way too many balls to the head." The Storm Guardian was strongly contending about the man's ability to properly judge the brunette woman.

The standing man was amusingly chuckling at the comment before saying, "The way you described her was a bit…far fetched too."

A tea cup was then pointed in his direction when he forewarned his brother in arms, "That's because she was hiding her _true_ nature,"

"I think you were just being a jerk towards her." He honestly remarks about the young man in front of him, especially when it comes down to the opposite sex.

Hayato merely shrugs his shoulders and brushes it off with, "Difference of opinion,"

"How did Kyoko take it?" His green eyes narrow in on the liquid in the cup while he asks about Kyoko's reaction to the bruises thus go round.

The former professional Baseball player releases a sigh, places the cup on the island and mentions, "She was the one that told me not to question Haru-san about then."

' _Haru-san?'_ The silver haired male inwardly thinks right before he verbally quips, "You two on a first name basis now?"

His facial expression visibly gave away the answer to the question so he followed up with, "Yep, hook, line and sinker."

"So says the one who gave her a special nickname," The Rain Guardian was coyly retorting with a visible smirk on his face.

The duo intensely stared at each other, both were completely aware of the tension that started to build until Ryohei casually jogged in the kitchen.

"Thanks for the tea, Baseball Freak." Hayato politely thanks him after he speedily downs the rest of it and places the empty cup within arm's reach.

The eldest of the three then peep his head out from behind the refrigerator door to curiously probe, "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine. Just a stubborn bull, that's all." Takashi simply declared once the Storm Guardian finally departed from amongst the group.

Ryohei momentarily peers up at the clock when he verbally pronounces, "Speaking of a bull, Lambo should be home right about now."

"Actually, he has Cram School tonight." He provides the reason as to why the young teen was not presently within the headquarters ground.

"I see."

' _You really are an idiot, Gokudera-san.'_


	16. Chapter 16

Hayato was visibly "huffing" while gently patting down his pants pocket until connecting with an object and finally withdrawing a plastic carton from his pouch.

The conversation from earlier, between Takeshi and himself, about the fresh marks on the " _stupid"_ woman's body somehow deeply irked him.

' _That entire family truly irks my nerves.'_ The silver haired male privately groaned once he removed a tar stick and partially slipped it between his lips. He was then reaching inside of another pocket in order to find his lighter when feeling someone softly tapping his shoulder.

"Tsuna summoned us." Bianchi's voice was heard from behind, which stopped him from lighting the cigarette with the message that the Tenth requested to see them.

The 10th Storm Guardian audibly releases another sigh, drops the cigarette back in the box and returns it to where it originally comes from.

The half-siblings briskly ventured to the private study of Sawada, Tsunayoshi, knocked then entered in when they overheard "Come in" through the door.

"I apologize for the sudden call but this matter is far too important to wait until tomorrow." The brunette was gravely announcing once dropping the paper from in front of his face.

Bianchi and Hayato briefly glanced at each other before they then diverted their sights toward the 10th Vongola Boss.

"Both Reborn and a select few members of the CEDEF will arrive in Japan sometime tomorrow." The young man eventually reveals the reason behind their sudden summon from him.

A neutral and joyful expressions respectively appeared on their faces after they processed the news.

"I would like for you two to handle these arrivals to the best of your abilities." The brunette was genuinely asserting with a small smile on his face after placing the papers in the discard pile.

A "yes sir" dutifully escaped their mouths right before they were dismissed to return back to their previous activities for the night.

Green eyes were glancing over at his sister, who was openly exuding a cheerful disposition when suddenly overhearing, "Maybe I should cook all of Reborn's favorites."

A cringe speedily crept up his spine at the word "cook" and decided to slip away from the woman before he became her personal guinea pig again.

' _My stomach would be destroyed for the next mouth if I taste any of her meals.'_ The silver haired male sickly considers since she would often use him, against his will, as a taster's tester like when they were younger.

His mind was then recalling the boss announcement when privately contemplating, ' _But it's not even time for our inspection yet, so why is the CEDEF coming to Japan?'_

0000

"How you holding up?" Kyoko was inquisitively questioning at the sight of the 10th Rain Guardian finally surfacing from within their kitchen. The brunette carefully slid the shoji door along the track to close it behind him and faced her with an unreadable expression on his face.

He was then watching the orange haired woman bowing at the waist before sincerely displaying her appreciation, "Thank you for accompanying me today on my date with Haru-san."

Takeshi was about to speak but she quickly added, "I know that what you saw might have sicken you but I at least want to show her that there are still some good genuine people in the world."

The brunette momentarily thought about the woman's words until he broke his silence, "It is alright Kyoko-san…although I don't fully understand or know about Haru-san's predicament quite yet, I do believe you are doing the right thing."

Tsunayoshi's wife eventually straightens back to her original height, brightly smiles and cheerfully says, "Thanks Takeshi-san" then follows up with a "Good night."

' _And Haru-san brings you joy too.'_ The brunette inwardly asserted while he watched the woman walked down the hallway.

 **4444**

Katsumi's eyes were frequently scanning their setting while he was following behind his future boss after leaving Miura, Haru with the guards.

"What is your problem?" He abruptly gives the silver haired male the third degree once they were in a private place to chat.

Yui simply paused in the middle of his stride, glanced over his shoulder at the blonde and boldly replied, "Asserting dominance,".

The young man with glasses was shaking his head before firmly asserting, "The way that you're going about Miura-san is plain wrong. She'll never fall for you, if you keep doing the same stupid things over and over again."

His statement earned the full undivided attention of the other male but he firmly stood fast and defended his latest actions, "I know what I'm doing!"

"You said that at the Inheritance Ceremony." The shorter of the two was knowingly countering after recollecting his exact same words after receiving a similar warning.

He visibly rolls his eyes at the statement when he sharply retorts, "So…that means I'm still standing by word, right Kats?"

The young man was rubbing one of his hands across his lower face and inwardly grumbling about the stubbornness from the Ricotta heir.

"I knew you were stubborn but not to the point that it makes you totally blind to Miura's feelings. That girl hates your guts." Katsumi finally revealed his opinion about the pair's relationship based solely on Miura's behavior around him.

A serious expression appears on his face while he vividly illustrates, "The girl constantly flinches whenever you try to touch her. And I know you feel her openly glaring daggers at you whenever you appear in front of her."

"For Kami sake, you have her locked away in a dungeon from the most basic human amenities like a working toilet! The Geisha House is far better than the dungeon." He concluded after he pointed in the direction of the dungeon and Geisha House during his comment.

Yui merely narrowed his sights on the male, defiantly scoffed "I know what I'm doing" and casually walked away from him.

' _You have to break a strong spirit first then rebuild them from the bottom, Kats.'_ The Ricotta heir was privately contemplating with a smirk on his face while heading to his private quarters to retire for the night.

 **4444**

Lambo physically stifles a yawn with one of his hands as he presently stands outside of a brown six storied building with the kanji "Cram School" alongside the portion where the steps are located.

He then relaxed his shoulders and body since they were just dismissed from their supplemental lessons during the late afternoon.

His eyes were then checking the face of his watch before deeming that he should find an eatery on his way home.

' _I-Pin should almost be finished with work.'_ The Bovine teen inwardly presumed as he headed in the direction of the restaurant known as, Kawahira.

His fingers were rhythmically tapping against his light green bookbag strap while casually traveling along the sidewalk until reaching a lively bustling commercial area.

' _If I remember…it should be around her somewhere.'_ The young man mentally recalled once he bypassed a landmark that signaled he was close by to the restaurant.

However, the sight of a familiar teenager's face easily stood out from the rest. I-Pin was actively engaging with a crow by explaining the samples and flavors that she was passing out to them.

"Yo, I-Pin!" The Bovine shouted once he drew closer, waved one of his hands and patiently waited for her response.

"Is he a friend of yours?" I-Pin was suddenly hearing her boss asking her at the sight of the young man.

"He probably came to walk me home." The Chinese Assassin predicts while she dutifully hands some plastic plates over to customers.

"Isn't that sweet." A gleam of light then reflected off his glasses along with a smirk when he interestedly claimed, "Is he by any chance the legal working age?"

A discernible "yes" voices from the young woman as she politely chats up the customers about their dinner's specials for today.

The older male smirks while he slurps up some noodles, rests his chopsticks in his bowl and easily balances it in one of his hands. He then mysteriously conjured up an apron and said, "Tell him, if he helps he'll get a free meal on me."

"Did you just say _free_? I'm your man!" Lambo was excitingly agreeing to the proposal after his sensitive hearing was picking up on the magical word "free".

The owner never let his smile fade when he clearly explained his role for the job, "You'll help I-Pin with passing out the free samples. Just remember one plate per person."

"Lambo-san the best at anything!" The young man was boastfully declaring in third person while pointing his thumb at his chest.

Kawahira tosses him the apron which smacks him across the face when he politely welcomes the young man, "Welcome to Kawahira then!"

I-Pin amusingly chuckled as her friend swiftly scrambled to remove and tie the apron around his waist right before she guided him through the steps.

 **4444**

The sentinels roughly pushed against the woman's back until she haphazardly stumbled inside of the rocky caged jail and strongly slammed the bars back in place to lock her back in.

The rattling of the jail bars were deeply resonating within her while she was tightly squinting her eyes to prevent tears of defeat from falling in front of the demons that were constantly surrounding her.

Her thoughts was soon filled with the clear afternoon blue sky and hot yellow sun that naturally warmed the pores in her skin, the smell of freshly cut grass that tickled her nose and hot delicious food wafted across her nostrils.

She wearily opens her eyes only to behold the visible darkness that currently shrouds her in this cage.

The brunette was carefully treading forward as far as the shackles around her feet were permitting her to advance deeper in the jail.

' _At least they gave me a new bucket,'_ Her inner voice finally took note since there was no longer a strong stench that stained the stony walls of the cell.

' _I miss the girls.'_ Her mind privately wandered to what a regular day would be like for her other than being tossed in the darken dungeon for alleged Insubordination.

The brunette recalled that it was late afternoon when she stepped back on to the Ricotta's family grounds. _'They're probably in full swing mood with its service and the traffic has increased from when they first opened.'_

A heavy sigh was escaping her lips while her hands were searching out a smooth flat space for her to lay against the cold damp surface of the rocks.

' _At least I would've been able to shower and use the bathroom like a regular person instead of some feral animal.'_

Haru vehemently cursed her luck and the people that exploited her for their own selfish purposes.

' _I can't wait to escape from here.'_

 **4444**

"And whose pinkie fingers do I need to cut off for your sudden intrusion in my private study? Or better yet, should I have you tossed in the dungeon for trying to use your child as a bargaining chip?" The Ricotta Boss enquiringly directs at the silver haired woman that presently stands in front of his desk.

The woman simply helped herself to a seat on one of the couches, crosses one of her legs at her knee and relaxes against the furniture.

She then rests an elbow on the arm of the sofa, leans against it and proclaims, "Just because you ramp up security…doesn't mean you can stop me from coming and going wherever I want."

The male was gently rubbing his temple after turning to face his wife before finally asking, "Why are you really here Riko?"

Laughter distinctly emits from the woman after she hears the question from her husband and tightly clutches her ribs.

"No wonder we're separated. You didn't even care to check in on me when I was on my assignment so spare the interrogation, you prick." The silver haired woman was irritably accusing after eventually catching her breath from

He rolled his eyes at the woman's blunt response while he quietly murmured, "I should've assigned you to a more _permanent_ station."

"I have heard about Miura-san _connections_ with the Vongola family…" The younger of the two verbally makes known before she purposely adds, "…is Yui even aware of his Spring being so freely handed out without reparations from then?"

This time the Ricotta's boss was intensely glaring at the woman occupying the couch when sternly remarking, "You are no longer considered as a part of this family, therefore you will not be knowledgeable about this particular ordeal."

An expression of ire swiftly surfaced on to her face when she cut her eyes over at the older male and urgently countered, "I helped you build this family, ran the Geisha House and handled the covert operations without a single complaint. How dare you say I am no longer a part of this family?!"

The petite woman was standing to her feet, sashaying over to the desk, leaning in closer to him and declaring, "You know I can easily take that precious little seat of yours with relative ease."

"Don't make false promises behind a veil that you are afraid to come from behind of." Riko calmly threatened before she deliberately wished him "Sweet Dreams, _husband_."

The older man could only watch his wife lean off of his desk with a smirk and depart from within his private study.

' _Of all the times for her to be back home…why now?'_


	17. Chapter 17

Tsuna casually entered the dining room area only to realize that most of the Vongola Famiglia was already present for breakfast.

It was indeed a rare opportunity, which Kyoko immediately seized in order to make her announcement. "If you are free tomorrow, the famiglia will be attending a local festival to support the community."

Lambo was half-sleep due to working late with Kawahira while I-Pin was eagerly exclaiming, "Tomorrow is my only off day so that's perfect!"

"It's been a while since we've done things as a complete famiglia." Ryohei openly stated after he drunk an energy drink and leaned his weight against one his taped hand.

"I can make us some bento lunches." Takashi was mentioning to the group, which was earning various exclamations, "This festival is going to rock!" "We're getting Yamamoto bentos!"

Gokudera privately thought about their family plan to attend the nearby festival, _'That'll be perfect since Reborn and CEDEF will arrive today.'_

"It's time for school, you two." Chrome softly mentions to the two teenagers after she checks the current time on the kitchen clock.

"Bakadera, let's go! You have to drive me the mighty Lambo-san and I-Pin to school." The Bovine teen boastfully heckles along with a chortle until he falls on his back.

The 10th Storm Guardian merely dusted off his hands, stood to his feet and declared, "It's too early in the morning to listen to you gloat, you stupid cow."

The others were laughing at the brotherly banter between the two as Hayato and the teens were departing from the dining room.

"I should probably wait until after the lunch rush to work on the bentos." The brunette male commented to himself after he stacked the freshly washed plates in the dish rack.

Chrome excitingly perked up at the chance to leave HQ so she enquiringly asked, "Do you need any help today Takashi-san?"

The young man's cast his eyes in the direction of the question only to recognize that it was Chrome Dokuro that made the request. A "sure" escapes his lips right when Ken and Chikasa instantly interjects, "We're going too."

The 10th Rain Guardian was merely nodding his head in agreement, "We should head over there now since some of the food was set out overnight."

Ryohei finally draws closer to his sister in order to declare, "You seem extremely happy lately. Are you pregnant?"

Both Kyoko and Tsuna visibly blushed at the silver haired male's question.

"Nii-san, no!" His younger sister nervously squeals with her hands repeatedly wave left to right.

His brother-in-law eventually divulged the reason behind her happiness "She made a new friend, Ryohei-niisan" along with a shake of his head.

It was then taking the 10th Sun Guardian a minute to process what they were talking about before smiling at the married pair. He then reaches up and ruffles the crown of Kyoko's head while he happily murmurs, "That's good."

The brunette watched his wife returned a smile at her older brother as he inwardly considered, _'Maybe kids won't be such a bad idea one of these days.'_

"Hey Tsu-kun," Her voice instantly realigns his focus back on to reality. "Can you listen in as I call for Haru-san?"

The young man was simply nodding his head before helping his wife up to her feet before overhearing her, "I hope Haru-san is okay."

0000

The Ricotta Head was stamping out a lit cigar against the ash tray before clipping the edge and placing it back in the wooden box.

"How'd you sleep?" He casually directs at the young man that suddenly enters inside of his private office space.

A few gestures followed as the future heir honestly confessed, "Not well…knowing Spring is freely out and about with the Vongola Famiglia."

"I'm not terminating her relationship with them." The older of the two instantly quells that idea once he rotates to face his son.

An expression of distaste was surfacing to his face while adamantly protesting, "They're getting _free_ services that otherwise would be heavily charged if they weren't the Vongola."

"Get your head out of your ass…we are solidifying a potential negotiation opportunity." The elderly man immediately ceases his son's rant on the Vongola's privileges from their famiglia.

"Besides, you peddled out some free favors from Spring as well." His father bluntly accosted the young man with an unreadable expression present on his face.

Right before Yui was about to verbally counter, the office phone starts to ring.

"Hello?" The Ricotta Head said after he removed the phone from the receiver on the third ring.

"Ah, Mrs. Sawada how are you?" He was cordially greeting the individual that was presently on the other line with a smile across his face.

Kyoko briefly peers up at her husband, who simply nods his head as a signal to continue on with the conversation. "I'm fine." She flatly stated.

"I take it Ms. Miura handled herself accordingly." The male deliberately commented as he speedily glanced over to see his son's reaction to their topic of conversation.

"Please remain focus." The orange haired woman was sternly reprimanding him for his attempt in goading her to being angry about Haru's present living conditions.

The Ricotta Head easily downplayed with, "Apologizes but this is the flow of our typical conversation when Ms. Miura-san is involved."

"I would like for Haru-san to join us tomorrow afternoon for a festival." The 10th Vongola's wife explains the reason why she was currently on the phone with him.

"She's available as usual. We will have her delivered to the provided address." He eventually confirmed right before Yui stormed out and roughly slammed the door behind him.

The gray haired male was privately ruminating while leaning against the body of the rolling leather chair, _'You'll learn that business comes before pleasure really soon, young man.'_

0000

"I'm glad traffic wasn't too busy." Bianchi broke her silence as they headed inside of the airport once they parked their vehicle in a nearby empty lot.

Her half-brother was merely nodding his head while they were venturing over to the metallic contraption with the initials of a French airport underneath the scrolling banner displaying: Arrivals.

The two then discovered a station designated for drivers that contained whiteboards and markers for them to write the name of their respective party.

A few giggles escaped the violet haired woman at what was scribbled on Hayato's board, who then requested, "Let me write one for Reborn-san."

Her sights quietly read the board then laughs at what was written before she predicts, "He'll be really surprised."

A few minutes passed when they soon noticed that some of the passengers finally approached the baggage claim in order to find their belongings.

Green eyes eventually spot a familiar bob of blonde along with two other people enter his line of vision.

"Yo, Basil," The silver haired male cordially greeted him once they were within range to hear his voice.

"The Exotic Dolphin Tour Group?" He then was jokingly questioning instead once placing his bag's strap around his shoulder.

"Can't exact put CEDEF on it but welcome to Japan… _again_." Gokudera properly greets the young man and company before the two exchange a brief hug.

A squealing noise was loudly emitting from his right before watching Bianchi speedily dashing forward and lovingly embracing a strange figure.

"I take it that I'm the Expresso Maniac." The voice calmly presumed before a bright light shone from his eyes, which sent a cold chill throughout the 10th Storm Guardian's body.

He nervously chuckles while he teasingly retorts, "Just a bit of humor."

"Basil…" "Reborn-sama, it's good to see you again." The blonde cordially acknowledged the shortest member out of the group with a bow of the waist.

"Let's catch up in the car, shall we?" The Sun Arcobaleno promptly suggests to the lot before the group gather their respective belongings and head out of the airport.

"Yes…we just picked them both up." Bianchi was dutifully reporting in while securing Reborn within her arms while the other was pressing a phone against the side of her face.

An "okay" left her lips before she hung up the phone.

"I heard the family has been rather friendly with the Ricotta." The Mafioso promptly comments with an expressionless face.

"Kyoko-san made a friend with a stupid woman!" The driver was annoyingly scoffing at the mention of the Ricotta Famiglia while stopping the car at the right light.

" _Stupid woman_?" Both Basil and Reborn confusingly repeated, which earned an explanation, "She's the brunette he publicly embarrassed at the Inheritance Ceremony because she accidentally fell in front of Tsunayoshi and even glared holes in her the whole entire time."

An expression of "oh" materializes on their faces when one of them poses, "Are they truly friends or is this a sham?"

"Tsuna-san makes sure at least one of the guardians is there as an escort during their "outings"." Hayato provided the best answer he could think of for that question.

At the mention of outing, Bianchi was promptly adding, "Kyoko-shan suggested this morning that the family attend a local festival tomorrow."

"That actually doesn't sound too bad. I haven't been to a Japanese festival in a while." Basil positively agreed to the idea while Reborn lipped, "If that's what the famiglia want then it is fine by me."

The rest of drive was used to catch up with each other personal lives after the Inheritance Ceremony.

00000

Haru lazily faced the ceiling or was it the floor, either way the carved rock looked the exact same to her. She then closed her eyes and wondered what her friend was presently doing.

Her stomach hungrily growls at the image of the delicious confectionery slice of cake from the bakery the other day that now coats the dirty driveway of the Ricotta Famiglia.

"What's yours is mine." The brunette angrily scoffed at the male's overly possessive nature towards her, which was a complete turn off for her in a man.

An audible groan was escaping her lips after completely processing everything to herself quietly before listening to footsteps approaching her cell.

Her body instinctively tensed until the voice finally spoke, "I'm your get out of jail ticket, Miura-san."

Her chocolate orbs were brightly twinkling at the sight of Katsumi currently standing in front of her instead of Yui Ricotta.

"The wife of the 10th Vongola Boss requested your presence for another date tomorrow." He then airs the reason as to why he was in front of her.

Haru was aimlessly stumbling toward the bars out of excitement while he was unlocking the lock and pushing the bars open for her to exit before shutting the bars back.

"Let's go…we have to nurse those wounds and get you ready." The blonde relayed what they needed to have done by tomorrow.

' _Haru's going on another date!'_ The young woman eagerly exclaims to herself.

0000

Riko was deeply inhaling the tobacco scent before expertly blowing out a long jet stream of smoke in to the air.

"I didn't know you smoked." A masculine voice astonishingly quipped at the sight of a cigarette in the woman's mouth.

A smile stretched across her face as the stick loosely hung on her lower lip when she hinted, "There's a lot you don't know about me thanks to your father."

Confusion visibly surfaces to his face when he observes her pat an empty spot to her left so without any hesitation he occupies the seat next to her.

Her eyes briefly peek up at the night sky, remove the cigarette and crush it in the ash tray.

"Have you ever asked your father the real reason why I disappeared when you were little?" His mother was curiously posing after diverting her eyes from the sky and on to him.

The young man merely shook his head a "no" which earned a "bastard" from her.

"Your father wanted to groom you to become the next boss for our famiglia. Of course, I was eager to help which only prove how naïve I was to his actual plan." The silver haired woman was starting her story of with.

"Around your 10th birthday someone took noticed that you were the sole heir to the Ricotta's fortunes and sent death threats along with papers that claimed they knew a dark secret about the famiglia."

"I was enlisted to help the cause because they were not familiar with my face due to my position as being the Geisha House Madam therefore I could easily maneuver through the shadows without being caught."

"We were eventually able to track down the said individuals that targeted you and eliminated everyone so we wouldn't have to worry about someone avenging their family later on down the road."

"So…that sounded like a job well done to me." Yui confusingly presumed that her mission was a success based off of what she just told him.

She momentarily fiddles with the unlit cigarette stick to somberly opine, "If only it was that easy Yui."

"I eventually became curious about the people that sent those messages. Apparently, your father had sexual relations with two of them during the course of our marriage."

"I was absolutely furious that I was used for such a task but that was just the mere beginning of my despair." She mysteriously hinting at something darker before honestly confessing, "I even unknowingly slaughtered your siblings as well."

" _What_?!" The silver haired male instantly perked up at the mention of the word "siblings" that slipped from his mother's mouth.

He roughly jabbed a thumb at his chest when he loudly declared, "You just said that I was the _sole_ heir so why are you telling me you ended up killing my _siblings_?!"

Before she could even supply an answer to his question, the young man fervently retorted, "Father would never do such a thing to this famiglia."

"I took the life an innocent unborn and born child, Yui. Their blood still stains my hands no matter how hard I scrub even until I bleed from my own hands, it is still there." Riko steadily explained while she directly stared at her open palms with a weary expression on her face.

Yui speedily hops to his feet, points at her and piercingly screams, "You're a liar!"

"We all are. We are humans with good and evil tendencies. Might I remind you of how you treat Spring?" His mother was claiming before breaking her sights from her hand and on to his face.

"That's different." He quickly counterclaims.

The silver haired woman merely narrowed her sights on him while she blatantly elucidates, "The only difference is you haven't killed her yet...but eventually you will with your server physical punishments."

"You're a fucking hypocrite." The future Ricotta heir was bitterly proclaiming while tightening his fist to the point his fingernails were digging in the palms of his hands.

"I've never laid a hand on those girls…someone else did. What I did was to instilled a fear so deep that they would never think to disobey this famiglia. You seem to be really good at the previous than the latter." His mother chided him on his tunnel vision whenever a situation involved Miura, Haru.

"The one you need to direct the rage at is not me, especially since Spring has another date tomorrow." The silver haired woman sternly advises on who he should really be mad at.

The older woman simply watches him violently storms away before she critically studies her hand then glances up at the window to the private study that houses her husband.

' _I will snatch that seat from under you by any means necessary.'_

000

The Vongola Headquaters was livelier than usual due to their latest arrivals to their home.

Gokudera was volunteering for washing plates when hearing a few cracking noises from the cups.

' _Two of them cracked?'_ He inwardly notes as he gingerly scoops up two tea cups and spots a small crack near the handle on both.

' _Is something bad going to happen tomorrow?'_


	18. Chapter 18

A " _knock_ " was heard at Yui's private study, which prompted him to break away from his paperwork and inwardly wondered who would have the audacity to bother him during this hour.

He was soon then greeted with the sight of his mother, who wore a placid expression on her face as her body language conveyed a message that he failed to pick up on.

"Came to tell me more lies about my non-existent siblings?" The silver haired male vehemently grits through his teeth since he vividly recalls the last conversation between the two of them.

Her eyes were visibly rolling at his feeble attempt at blocking out the fact that his father did indeed have children outside of their marriage without regaling his first born of his adulterous ways.

"Whether it's the truth or a lie is up to you but I see that you're busy so I'll come back at another time then." Riko annoyingly retorted before she stepped away from the door's frame and advanced a few feet ahead.

She briefly pauses to glance over her slender right shoulder and sternly advises, "You'll do well to respect your elders, Yui."

Her son simply ignored her advice, angrily slammed the door and dutifully returned back to the pile of papers that graced his desk before a thought passed through his mind.

 **0000**

"Haru-chan!' The brunette was repeatedly hearing a feminine voice loudly calling out her name until she was finally turning around to face the source.

A wide smile spreads across her face at the sight of the orange haired woman, who presently stands next to a rather short brunette male.

"Kyoko-chan," Haru excitedly returned the greeting until she eventually noticed that her friend brought along a larger entourage with two familiar faces mixed in for their date.

Kyoko breaks her gaze from the woman when she starts the introductions, "Haru-chan, this is my husband Sawada Tsunayoshi,"

"Tsuna-san is fine." The male directly next to her cordially suggests since any other honorific would be too formal for their current setting.

She was then pointing to another silver haired male before revealing, "My aniki, Sasagawa Ryohei,"

"So you're the one that has my sister EXTREMELY happy lately." The 10th Sun Guardian cheerfully exclaimed as he approached the brunette for a better look at her until he felt a rough tug at his ear.

"I apologize for his _bright_ aura and personality. He has a really hard time toning it down." A beautiful curly raven haired woman teasingly quips before she introduces herself as "Kurokawa Hana".

Haru inwardly chuckled at the couple's interaction with each other while she grew envious at the idea of a significant other whose loved is solely reserved her.

"There is Fuuta, Basil, I-Pin and Lambo-san," The Vongola's Donna then gestures to each person by their respective names. "Then you have Dokuro Chrome and Kyoya Hibari,"

She instantly sensed two vastly different auras from the last two: one was a silent fury while the other was a quiet resilience.

"Reborn-sama and Bianchi-san," Her eyes then land on the small figure that was presently tucked against the older woman's bosom.

' _A baby wearing a suit?'_ The brunette was confusingly considering before hearing a voice breaking out of her thoughts.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Haru-chan," The violet haired woman closed her eyes, tilted her head to the side and flashed a smile while Reborn's beady eyes pierced her soul.

"And you've already met Yamamoto Takeshi," "Yo Haru-chan," The tall brunette male warmly greets the woman with a wave of his hand and a smirk across his lips

"You're making too much noise over a stupid woman, baseball freak." The silver haired male was irritably gripping while shoving his hands inside of his pants pockets.

Chocolate brown eyes narrows in on the male that stands next to her friend's husband, tightens her fists and snaps, "Haru's not a stupid woman, _Bakadera_."

Lambo suddenly burst in to a fit of laughter while he frequently pointed an index finger at the male to shockingly exclaim, "Even she calls you Bakadera too!"

Hayato instantly felt all eyes on him, which caused a small blush embarrassment to lightly dust his cheeks.

He could only murmur "Stupid woman" along with a ' _tsk_ ' of his tongue and faces away from the brunette woman.

There was one particular pair of eyes that lingered on the two after their conversation, which earned a smirk and a thought, _'This should be interesting.'_

 **0000**

Katsumi dutifully strolled through the Ricotta mansion with one destination in mind.

He was soon greeted by the sight of the future heir to the very family he swore an oath to serve.

The blonde was initially planning on avoiding talking until watching Yui was angrily punching the wall with his bare knuckles.

"What'd do you think you're doing?" He confusingly questions at the male's rash decision to demolish a wall in the house.

Katsumi suddenly felt his collar being roughly yanked forward until he felt Yui's breath across his face.

" _Where's spring?!_ " The silver haired male was hissing though his teeth while tightening his grip around the thin piece of fabric within his grasp.

The shorter male merely secured the man's wrist, executed a sharp twist and calmly stated, "I'm not at liberty to reveal where girls from the Geisha House are assigned out to."

Yui grits at the intense pain that currently courses through his body.

"She's with the Vongola's Donna." Another voice unexpectedly chimed in, which earned eyes in the direction of the source.

"They're at a local festival by their headquarters." Riko reveals the information her son tries to strangle out of the male behind him.

Yui capitalized on the distracted Katsumi that he easily yanked his hand away from the tight grasp and stormed away from the two.

She then was feeling a pair of eyes glaring at her before listening to, "I'm not surprised that you would fan the flames, which means you're willing to be burned."

The former madam simply smiles and counterclaims, "You're ten years too early to lecture me."

The silver haired woman then promptly dismissed herself but not before she verbally uttered "cheeky brat" under her breath.

Yui was left with only one option: to tell the boss about the recent development that will greatly affect their golden opportunity with the Vongola famiiga.

 **0000**

After a few announcements, the Vongola Famiglia's members naturally broke away in their respective cliques.

Haru then notes that a teen with a cow print shirt underneath a black blazer casually approaches her and bluntly announces, "The great Lambo-san acknowledges you since you weren't scared to put Bakadera in his place."

His comment unknowingly caused a smile to materialize on her face as he added, "I hope to see you around later onee-chan,"

And with that the Bovine teen heads off with two blonde males and a Chinese girl down the main walkway of the festival.

She instinctively felt a glare from her left in which she already knew who it belonged to but as she opened her mouth to speak, she heard, "Let's go, Haru-chan,"

 **0000**

"Oi I-Pin," Lambo called out to the female Chinese Assassin, who received a wooden bowl with four steam Gyoza buns from a stall once she paid the vendor.

"Oh…those look good." He eagerly commented once the smell of delicious food wafted across his nose after he closed the distance between the two.

The young teen merely watches as he reaches and grabs a hot steamy bun from the bowl.

"What we're you about to say?" I-Pin was recalling that he was saying something earlier before stuffing his face.

"Did you see Bakadera's face when onee-chan called him Bakadera?" The raven haired teen amusingly quips about the brunette woman once he chewed and swallowed the doughy treat. "I think she's cool, what'd you think?"

She did not immediately answer as she thinks over the question until she notices some movement from behind her companion.

"Remember she was the brunette that Gokudera-san ran in to at the Inheritance Ceremony." Basil chimed in while he, his subordinates and Fuuta casually strolled up to the couple at the Gyoza bun stand.

"The crest on the back of her kimono says she's from the Ricotta Famiglia." The blonde knowingly discloses as he scopes out what the other booths in their vicinity offers to festival goers.

Fuuta was briefly glancing down at his metallic briefcase before promptly adding, "That famiglia always rank high in the worse categories from the Ranking Book."

"So one-chan is a part of _that_ famiglia." Lambo audibly muttered as he casted his sights over to where their original point of entry as he fondly recollected how flustered she made Bakadera in front of Tsuna-san.

' _It's too bad…onee-chan is cool.'_

 _ **On the other hand…**_

"So Gokudera-san...how long are you going to glare at her?" Takeshi jokingly probes once their group arrive at a booth that eventually catches their interest.

The silver haired male merely ignored his companion's question and silently honed in on the brunette as she animatedly chatted up Kyoko-san.

' _What's his problem?'_ Haru irritably thought as she privately envisioned dark shadowy tendrils with a pair of green eyes that brightly glowed behind her companion's head.

She stealthily cuts her eyes from Kyoko's face and toward the menace a few inches behind them. ' _It feels like I can barely breathe!'_

They then stopped at another booth where the goal was to knock over the bottles that formed the shape of a pyramid.

The Donna was unsuccessful in her attempts while Haru barely manages to knock three of the bottles over much to the surprise of both Hayato and Takeshi at her hidden arm strength.

The 10th Rain Guardian was silently noting the disappointment on her face before deciding to try his hand at the game.

He was then given three balls in which he picked one up, adjusted his fingers on the plain rubber ball, aimed for the weak spot and threw it with pinpoint accuracy to knock over the bottles.

This time it was the boothkeeper and Haru that was thoroughly surprised at the brunette's outcome while Hayato vocally huffed, "baseball freak".

"F-f-feel free to ch-ch-choose any pr-prize." The man was nervously stammering after speedily gathering up the bottles from around the wooden platform within his grasp.

Takeshi casually turns toward the pair of ladies, points his head in the direction of the prizes and warmly encourages, "Take your pick, ladies."

The boothkeeper happily obliged with the two girls' requests as he handed over plush toys that emitted a noise whenever it was tightly embraced around it's body.

"Are you having fun, Haru-chan?" Kyoko was curiously asking, which was earning the response, "Haru is having lots of fun, Kyoko-chan."

"Only a stupid woman would refer to herself in third person." Hayato bluntly puts forth before he receives what he assumes was a death glare.

Haru was physically shaking her fists and angrily countering, "Haru's not stupid!"

"Maa, maa, calm down you two…we don't want to cause a scene now do we?" Takeshi calmly suggested once he stepped between them with open palms towards the two, who intensely glared at each other.

Green eyes then casts over toward Juudaime only to note the unusually stern expression present on his face as a spectator to their argument.

"My apologies for embarrassing you, the Donna and our famiglia name." The silver haired male was quickly offering his apology in a solemn tone.

' _So he's capable of saying sorry.'_ The brunette woman privately thought at the display of devotion toward his family. _'…unlike another silver haired bastard Haru knows.'_

"Gokudera-san is always so hard on himself whenever it comes to Tsuna-san and the famiglia's reputation." She overhead the tall male spoke as she inwardly ruminated, _'Was I supposed to hear that?'_

Her stomach was soon loudly growling as a signal for its owner to start feeding it.

A blush of shame heats up her cheeks before she hears the same noise, except it emits from Hayato who kneels in front of Tsuna.

"It's a little too early for the bentos…let's grab a snack." Kyoko eventually suggested with a small smile on her face before they returned to their stroll on the main street.

Haru soon felt that same glare on her except it was not as intense as it was earlier.

 **0000**

Bianchi lovingly cradles her beloved Reborn as close to her chest as much as she physically could yet being mindful not to smother the smaller figure with her strength or ample chest.

If the baby against her bosom was a normal child, it would have instinctively caused for a pause of repeated concern out of her innate motherly nature. However she had the pleasure to tote the World's Strongest Hitman, who was cursed to revert to a baby form within her grasp.

It was quite natural for any non-mafia related individual to presume the tot in her clutches was truly a child based off of stature and a swift glance at the appearance. But if you were ever able to closely inspect Reborn there was this mysterious yet foreboding aura that says otherwise.

Talk about never judge a book by its cover is a constant testament to this child...no better yet to this _being_ 's life.

The violet haired woman was brought out of her thoughts once she heard the suave Mafioso verbally addressed her, "Did you know about their arrangement with the Ricotta?"

"Not all of the details but I did notice a more cheerful Kyoko-chan than normal but I naturally assumed Tsuna-kun was the reason or she was possibly pregnant." She genuinely opined with her eyes briefly closed as she spoke.

"I warned him to err on the side of caution when dealing with them." He states while Leon sleepy dozes off on the wide brim of his black fedora hat as they peruse through the busy main path of the festival.

The Sun Arcobaleno was continuously studying their changing surroundings as Bianchi was delving further down the stone pathway before calmly mentioning, "They're a bunch that I would happily eliminate…if they go against the Vongola."

It grew eerily quiet between the two until Reborn broke his silence again once he recalled how the brunette, Haru, demonstrated her spunk when she easily stood against the turbulent 10th Storm Guardian.

A visible smirk stretches across his face while he inquisitively ruminates, _'We will have to see just how far this friendship will go and who it will affect the most Kyoko-chan or Gokudera-san?'_

 **0000**

' _Why is this stupid woman getting under my skin?'_ His brain attempted to process just how she was able to get under his skin and speedily fester in to sore.

Vivid images of her escort physically assault left faded yet visible marks during their previous encounters made the takoyaki surprisingly bitter upon consumption

However one swift spared glance at the brunette, who happily scarfed down the fried goods with an expression of delight ultimately brought him out of his somber lament.

"Thank you for the takoyaki," She cordially thanks the silver haired male for the food as she bites off a round doughy ball from the end of a sharp toothpick.

' _Well Juudaime made me do it.'_ The silver haired male was attempting to explain his sudden good will toward the stupid woman.

The two plus her escort patiently waited for the other three to return from a Cotton Candy stall when a booth with a large clear tank filled with water and exotic fishes instantly caught Haru's attention.

Green eyes watches as the woman gently presses her face against the glass side of the aquariums, which quickly earns the boothkeeper's attention.

"How much?" She was curiously posing with her face now separating away from the glass.

Hayato was paying the fee, handing over a small net towards her and annoyingly saying, "Go and knock yourself out stupid woman."

Her chocolate orbs apprehensively stared at the net as suspicion mixed with anxiousness and anticipation visibly reflected in her sights as she hesitatingly reached out for the green net.

"Stop acting as if I held you at gunpoint." He jokingly quips while he watches her carefully rolls her kimono sleeves upward, dips the net in the water and repeatedly attempts to catch one of the fish.

' _She's truly a stupid woman.'_ The silver haired male was inwardly thinking after getting his kicks out of watching the woman desperately struggling to catch some fish.

The 10th Storm Guardian merely squatted next to her, gently secured her hand within his and forced her hand to remain completely still in the water

Haru was about to protest about his close proximity and how she did not need his help until the sight of two curious fish cautiously swims near the net instantly captures her focus.

What happened next caught the two completely off guard…


End file.
